US seeks ‘unprecedented’ response to North Korea rocket launch
NORTH KOREA launched a long-range rocket yesterday in defiance of international sanctions, prompting the United States to warn of “serious consequences” while Japan condemned it as “absolutely unacceptable”.
Tensions rose in the region after Pyongyang jubilantly announced to the world that its 9.31 am launch of an earth observation satellite into orbit from a site near the Chinese border was a “complete success”.
US Ambassador Samantha Power last night said a new UN resolution targeting North Korea over its rocket launch and recent nuclear test must be adopted very quickly and include “unprecedented measures” that its leader, Kim Jong-Un, does not expect.
“There cannot be business as usual after two successive acts,” she said.
Jens Stoltenberg, the head of Nato, said Pyongyang had breached five UN resolutions and demanded the hermit state comply with international law.
The launch of the satellite — just a month after a nuclear bomb test — is widely regarded as a covert means of testing the technology needed to develop a missile capable of striking the US mainland.
Pyongyang claimed that the satellite was orbiting earth every 94 minutes. The US Strategic Command confirmed it had detected a “missile launch entering space”, while South Korea’s military stated that the rocket had put an object into orbit.
Japan, whose military was recently put on alert to shoot down any rocket that threatened its territory, reacted with swift condemnation, particularly as it reportedly flew over Japanese soil above the southern region of Okinawa.
Seoul and Washington also announced that they would explore the possibility of deploying an advanced missile defence system in South Korea “at the earliest possible date”, a move likely to raise regional tensions.
Speculation has long surrounded the possibility of the US deploying to South Korea the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, which is among the most advanced in the world, capable of targeting short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles in flight.
Yoo Jeh-seung, head of defence planning at South Korea’s defence ministry, added that the South and US would officially discuss deploying THAAD to improve the “missile defence posture” of American forces in the country.
The rocket launch and the recent nuclear test on January 6 are most likely efforts by Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, to consolidate his domestic legitimacy ahead of the first ruling party congress in 36 years which is due to take place in May.
News of the “success” of the launch was confirmed via Pyongyang in the form of a special state broadcast delivered by the ever-popular news anchor Ri Chun-hee, wearing a pink traditional Korean hanbok dress.
Praising the “epochal” launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong-4 —which means bright star — she hailed it as a breakthrough in boosting national “defence capability”.
A still image of a white rocket lifting off — which closely resembled an earlier launched rocket — were released by North Korea’s state news agency, while another picture showed Mr Kim watching the launch.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary, strongly condemned the launch and urged North Korea to halt its “provocative actions”, while Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s president, described it as an unforgivable act of provocation.
Britain joined the chorus of international condemnation, with Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, warning of a “robust response” if the state continued to violate resolutions.
“This is a clear and deliberate violation of a number of UN Security Council resolutions. North Korea’s actions continue to present a threat to regional and international security.”
China — Pyongyang’s main ally — also expressed regret but urged all sides to act cautiously. Even Russia, another ally of Pyongyang, condemned the launch, and Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, spoke to his Japanese opposite number about the crisis.
“We must state that Pyongyang has not heeded the calls of the international community, and is once again demonstrating defiant disregard for international law,” a spokesman said.
The efficacy of the new “satellite” in terms of communications was queried by analysts, who noted that no signal was ever detected from North Korea’s last long-range rocket launch in 2012.
However, David Wright, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters: “If it can communicate with the Kwangmyongsong-4, North Korea will learn about operating a satellite in space. Even if not, it gained experience with launching and learned more about the reliability of its rocket systems.”
‘This is a clear and deliberate violation of a number of UN Security Council resolutions’