North Korea had labelled the launch part of a purely scientific space programme, but most of the world viewed it as a disguised ballistic missile test and the nuclear-armed state's latest step towards a weapons delivery system capable of striking the US mainland.
The satellite-bearing rocket took off at around 9:00 am Pyongyang time (0030 GMT), according to the South Korean defence ministry which was monitoring the site.
Its pre-orbital flight arc was planned to traverse the Yellow Sea and further south to the Philippine Sea, with both South Korea and Japan threatening to shoot it down if it encroached on their territory.
Multiple UN Security Council resolutions proscribe North Korea's development of its ballistic missile programme...
[AFP - i24news.tv]
7/2/16
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Related:
China 'seriously concerned' about DPRK (North Korean) satellite launch plan
Japan deploys anti-missile systems amid DPRK launch fears
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North Korea rocket launch: UN Security Council holds urgent talks...
ReplyDeleteThe UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting following North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket.
The meeting was requested by South Korea, Japan and the US to agree on a collective response to the launch.
Pyongyang said it fired the rocket to place a satellite in orbit, but critics believe the real purpose was to test a ballistic missile.
Sunday's launch comes weeks after North Korea held a fourth nuclear test - both acts violate UN resolutions.
"We have consensus to condemn this kind of violation of sanctions," Venezuela's UN envoy Rafael Ramirez, who holds the Council presidency, said ahead of the closed-door meeting in New York.
French ambassador Francois Delattre described Pyongyang's move as an "outrageous provocation.
"That's why weakness is not an option," he added......http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35516278
North Korea satellite in stable orbit but not seen transmitting: U.S. sources...
ReplyDeleteNorth Korea's recently launched satellite has achieved stable orbit but is not believed to have transmitted data back to Earth, U.S. sources said of a launch that has so far failed to convince experts that Pyongyang has significantly advanced its rocket technology.
Sunday's launch of what North Korea said was an earth observation satellite angered the country's neighbors and the United States, which called it a missile test. It followed Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January.
"It's in a stable orbit now. They got the tumbling under control," a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
That is unlike the North's previous satellite, launched in 2012, which never stabilized, the official said. However, the new satellite was not thought to be transmitting, another source added.....reuters.com
10/2/16