This picture released by North Korea's official news agency KCNA shows the launch of the earth observation satellite Kwangmyong-4 at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo: AFP)
This picture released by North Korea's official news agency KCNA shows the launch of the earth observation satellite Kwangmyong-4 at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo: AFP)
North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it called a satellite, but its neighbours and the United States denounced the launch as a missile test, conducted in defiance of UN sanctions and just weeks after a nuclear bomb test. The US strategic command said it had detected a missile entering space, and South Korea’s military said the rocket had put an object into orbit.
North Korea said the launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong-4, named after late leader Kim Jong Il, was a “co-mplete success” and it was making a polar orbit of Earth every 94 mi-nutes. The launch order was given by his son, leader Kim Jong-Un.
The launch prompted South Korea and the US to announce that they would explore the feasibility of deploying an advanced missile defence system in South Korea. South Korea and the US said that if the advanced missile defence system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) was deployed to South, it would be focused only on North Korea.
China, in a muted reaction, “expressed regret”. Russia stressed the importance of diplomacy in defusing tension in Northeast Asia during a phone call with Japan.
North Korea’s state news agency carried a picture of a white rocket that closely resembled a previously laun-ched rocket, lifting off. North Korea’s last long-range rocket launch, in 2012, put what it called a communications satellite into orbit, but no signal has ever been detected from it. “If it can communicate with the Kwangmyongsong-4, North Korea will learn about operating a satellite in space,” said David Wright, co-director and senior scientist at the Global Security Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The rocket lifted off at around 0030 GMT on a southward trajectory, as planned. Japan’s Fuji television network showed a streak of light heading into the sky, taken from a camera at China’s border with North Korea.
Meanwhile, Britain strongly condemned the launch on Sunday and warned of a “robust response” if Pyongyang continued to violate UN resolutions. “I strongly condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile technology test,” foreign secretary Philip Hammond said.
The European Union on Sunday also lashed North Korea’s launch as “yet another outright and grave violation” of its obligations and urged Pyongyang to engage in dialogue with the international community.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said these actions represent a direct threat to international peace and security.
