Anger, sanctions threats greet North Korea’s rocket launch plans

South Korea and Japan on Wednesday echoed US warnings that North Korea would pay a heavy price if it pushes ahead with a planned rocket launch just weeks after conducting its fourth nuclear test. China also joined the global chorus of anger and concern and vowed to shoot down any missile that threatened its territory.

Urging Pyongyang to drop its plans for a launch as early as next week, the government in Seoul said the move would be a serious breach of UN resolutions and a “direct challenge” to the international community.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned what he called a “serious provocation”, while his defence minister issued an order to “destroy” the rocket with surface-to-air missiles if it threatened to fall on Japanese territory.

The warnings came a day after the North announced a February 8-25 window for the launch, ostensibly aimed at putting an Earth observation satellite into orbit.

UN resolutions forbid the North from any use of ballistic missile technology, and Tuesday’s announcement saw Pyongyang doubling down against an international community already struggling to come up with a united response to last month’s nuclear test.

“We express serious concerns about that,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing, calling on Pyongyang to abide by UN strictures forbidding its use of ballistic missile technology — even for ostensibly peaceful purposes.

The North insists its space programme is purely scientific in nature, but the United States and its allies say its rocket launches are aimed at developing an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the US mainland.

The United States, which has been spearheading a diplomatic drive for harsher, more effective sanctions on Pyongyang, was quick to condemn the launch plan.