North Korea Says It Will Launch Satellite Into Orbit
Source: New York Times
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea announced on Friday that it planned to launch a satellite into orbit next month, testing a technology that the United States and the United Nations Security Council have condemned as a cover for developing and testing long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The announcement came only two weeks after North Korea agreed with the United States that it would suspend uranium enrichment, allow U.N. inspectors and place a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for 240,000 tons of food aid. The Feb. 29 deal, if implemented, was widely expected to lead to broader multilateral talks aimed at dismantling the North’s nuclear weapons program.
North Korea’s surprise move appears to have complicated such prospects. Its two most recent long-range rocket tests, in 2006 and 2009, were censured by the Security Council and the regime quickly countered by detonating nuclear devices. North Korea’s announcement drew sharp reaction from the United States and its allies in the region.
“This will be a clear violation” of a Security Council resolution that banned North Korea from any launch using ballistic missile technology, Cho Byung-jae, spokesman of the South Korean Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.” “It will constitute a highly provocative action threatening peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/world/asia/north-korea-satellite-launch-missile-test.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Artist rendering of course.
