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missile launch
South Korea military officials say North Korea has tested dozens of short-range rockets in the past 24 hours in an apparent show of anger with Seoul.
Analysts say the launches are Pyongyang’s way of protesting against joint military drills between the US and South Korea.
Some 16 rockets were fired into the sea early on Sunday, following the launch of 30 on Saturday.
North Korea has tested dozens of short-range rockets in the past 24 hours in an apparent show of anger with Seoul
North Korea claims its rocket tests are routine, self-defense exercises.
Pyongyang has bitterly criticized the annual war drills by Washington and Seoul, labeling them invasion preparations.
The isolated state often makes a show of force at the same time as the drills.
But this year there have been an unusually high number of rockets launched.
Experts say some 70 missiles have been fired so far this month, including the 46 from this weekend.
The South Korean military says that the North appears to be firing Frog rockets, which are unguided Soviet-developed devices that Pyongyang has had in its armory since the 1960s.
Both South Korea and the US have criticized North Korea’s missile tests.
Under UN resolutions, North Korea is required to abandon its ballistic missiles programs.
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John Kerry has called on North Korea’s leaders to “come to the table in a responsible way” to end regional tensions.
Speaking in Tokyo, the fourth and final stop on his Asian tour, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea it risked further isolation if its threats continued.
John Kerry also reaffirmed the US commitment to defend its allies, including Japan.
The countries the US official had visited were united in seeking the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
On Friday John Kerry visited South Korea, and on Saturday he was in China, whose leaders he has said are “very serious” in their pledge to help reduce tensions – and to help end the North Korean nuclear programme.
North Korea has recently threatened attacks against South Korea and the US, sparking alarm in the region.
Speaking in Tokyo, the fourth and final stop on his Asian tour, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea it risked further isolation if its threats continued
Speculation has been building that the North is preparing a missile launch, following reports that it has moved at least two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast.
Japan is within range of these rockets and has been taking precautions, including setting up batteries of US-made Patriot anti-missile systems around the capital and sending two warships to the Sea of Japan, with orders to shoot down any missiles fired towards the Japanese islands.
At a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, John Kerry said North Korea had to understand by now “that its threats and provocations are only going to isolate it further and impoverish its people even further”.
“The US will do what is necessary to defend our allies against these provocations, but our choice is to negotiate,” he said.
“We would hope that whatever considerations and fears the North has of the US or others in the region they would come to table in responsible way and negotiate that.”
John Kerry stressed that Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo and Washington had “committed to take action together” and to “making that goal of denuclearization a reality”.
Fumio Kishida said their role was to persuade North Korea that its aggressive behavior “will not benefit them in any way whatsoever” and that the international community had to send out this strong message.
Washington and Tokyo have a security alliance dating back to the 1950s, under which Washington is bound to protect Japan if it is attacked.
On Monday, April 15, North Korea will mark the birth of national founder Kim Il-sung. Such occasions are traditionally marked with shows of military strength and it is thought this year the date could be used for a missile launch.
John Kerry has stressed that it would be a “huge mistake” for North Korea to go ahead with a launch, saying it would further isolate the country and that its people are in need of food, not missiles.
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While the US and South Korea were on high alert for a missile launch on Thursday, North Korea was celebrating its ruling Kim dynasty and appeared to tone down rhetoric of impending war.
Despite threats it will attack US bases and the South in response to any hostile acts, North Korea started to welcome a stream of visitors for Monday’s birthday celebrations of its founding father, Kim Il-sung.
Performers carry a flag at the opening of the April Spring People’s Art Festival at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater on April 11.
The festival opened Thursday to mark late president Kim Il-sung’s birthday on April 15, known in North Korea as the Day of the Sun. In the background are portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and his son, Kim Jong-il.
Meanwhile Pyongyang issued a statement that appeared to be tinged with regret over the closure of the joint Kaesong industrial zone that was shuttered when it ordered its workers out this week, terming the North-South Korean venture “the pinnacle of General Kim Jong-il’s limitless love for his people and brothers”.
The statement on North Korea’s KCNA news agency blamed South Korean President Park Geun-hye for bringing the money-spinning venture to “the brink of shutting down.”
North Korea celebrates Kim dynasty with song and dance as world watches for missile launch
Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung’s son, ruled North Korea until his death in December 2011. He was succeeded by Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to preside over one of the world’s poorest and most heavily militarized countries.
Since taking office, Kim Jong-un, 30, has staged two long-range rocket launches and a nuclear weapons test. The nuclear test in February triggered UN sanctions that Pyongyang has termed a hostile act and a precursor to invasion.
For over a month, North Korea has issued an almost daily series of threats to the US and South Korea, most recently warning foreigners to leave the South due to an impending “thermonuclear” war.
Apart from the swipe at South Korea’s new president, verbal threats appeared to fall off as KCNA listed arrivals for the upcoming birthday celebrations, naming an eclectic mix ranging from Chinese businessmen to Cold War-era enthusiasts of its socialist monarchy and official ideology of “Juche,” or self-reliance.
Reinforcing the rule of the Kim dynasty and the legitimacy of Kim Jong-un to hold power in Pyongyang is a key tenet of North Korea’s ideology.
It was the first anniversary on Thursday of Kim Jong-un’s official ascent to power, although he became de-facto leader immediately after his father’s death.
Key North Korean anniversaries:
11 April – Kim Jong-un elected first secretary of the Workers’ Party, and late father Kim Jong-il named General Secretary for Eternity in 2012
13 April – Kim Jong-un appointed first chairman of the National Defence Commission in 2012
15 April – Birthday of state founder Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912- 8 July 1994)
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South Korea has decided to raise its alert level to “vital threat” following reports that North Korea is preparing for a missile test.
At least one ballistic missile with an estimated 2,000-mile (3,000 km) range is fuelled and ready for launch, US and South Korean sources say.
Pyongyang has been making bellicose threats against South Korea, Japan and US bases in the region.
The threats follow tough new UN sanctions imposed on North Korea last month following its third nuclear test in February this year.
Separately, an initial investigation by South Korea into a major cyber attack last month that affected a number of banks and broadcasters has said North Korea is to blame.
affected a number of banks and broadcasters has said the North is to blame.
North Korea is believed to have completed preparations for a missile launch after it moved two Musudan missiles to its east coast, Yonhap news agency says.
In anticipation, the South Korea-US Combined Forces have raised their alert level to Watchcon 2 (Vital threat), to increase surveillance monitoring, Yonhap quoted a senior military official as saying.
North Korea unveiled the Musudan missile during a military parade in 2010 but has yet to test it. There are reports, however, that it may have been sold to Iran and tested there.
The launch could happen “anytime from now”, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told parliament.
A test launch would be a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718, passed in 2006, which states the North “must not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile”.
North Korea has tested intermediate range missiles before and during periods of crisis and tension.
While another test launch would certainly be seen as provocative, it is unlikely to have any major, short-term military significance unless it goes wrong.
The raising of South Korea’s alert status comes as Japan deployed anti-missile defenses in Tokyo as a precaution.
“We are on high alert,” said Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera.
A number of travel agencies in China have reported that tourist trips into North Korea have been suspended.
One travel agent in the north-eastern city of Dandong told Reuters news agency: “All [tourist] travel to North Korea has been stopped from today and I’ve no idea when it will restart.”
The border remains open to commercial traffic.
Meanwhile, an official investigation by South Korea into last month’s cyber attack traced the malicious codes used to six computers in North Korea.
“We’ve collected a lot of evidence to determine the North’s Reconnaissance General Bureau led the attack, which had been prepared for at least eight months,” a spokesman for the Korea Internet and Security Agency said.
The attack on March 20 severely affected the KBS, MBC and YTN broadcasters and operations at the Shinhan, NongHyup and Jeju banks.
Yesterday North Korea has warned foreigners in South Korea to take precautions in case of war and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned the crisis on the Korean peninsula may become “uncontrollable”.
Ban Ki-moon once again urged North Korea to tone down its “provocative rhetoric” and to keep open a joint North-South Korean industrial complex.
North Koreans failed to report for work at the Kaesong complex on Tuesday, suspending one of the few points of co-operation with South Korea.
Watchcon status:
- Level Four – Used during peacetime
- Level Three – Important threat
- Level Two – Vital threat
- Level One – Used during wartime
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It appears that US officials play down the North Korean threats, after weeks of bellicose statements from Pyongyang.
A White House spokesman said the US “would not be surprised” if North Korea launched a missile, while a top US military officer said recent threats appeared to fit a familiar pattern.
North Korea has threatened to attack both US and South Korean targets.
The communist country has told foreign embassies it cannot guarantee their safety in a conflict and diplomats in Pyongyang were asked on Friday to tell the foreign ministry by April 10 what help they would need in evacuating.
It appears that US officials play down the North Korean threats, after weeks of bellicose statements from Pyongyang
The warning prompted Russia to ask whether Pyongyang was offering help in the event of a conflict, or making a decision.
South Korean media reported on Friday that North Korea had moved two intermediate range missiles into position on the east coast.
The missiles are untested but it is believed they could reach as far as the Pacific Island of Guam, where the US has a military base, and where it has confirmed it will deploy a missile defense system.
South Korean news agency Yonhap said two warships equipped with Aegis defense systems would monitor the situation.
North Korea has issued a series of unusually strong threats since it was sanctioned by the UN in March for having carried out a third nuclear test.
It has threatened nuclear strikes on the US, formally declared war on the South, and pledged to reopen a nuclear reactor in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday a missile launch would not be unexpected.
“We would not be surprised to see them take such an action,” he said.
“We have seen them launch missiles in the past.”
Seoul has also played down North Korea’s reported missile move, saying it may be planning a test rather than a hostile act.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, called North Korea’s nuclear threat “reckless”, but said it seemed to fit a decades-long pattern of escalation followed by accommodation.
“I wouldn’t say I see anything to lead me to believe that this is a different kind of cycle,” he told the Associated Press news agency.
Even so, Gen. Martin Dempsey said the cycle was more unpredictable because relatively little was known about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who came to power after his father’s death in December 2011.
“Though we’ve always said that North Korea has been a bit opaque to us, in the past we’ve understood their leadership and the influencers a little better than we do today,” he said.
Many of North Korea’s angry statements have cited the annual military exercises between US and South Korean forces as provocation.
The US flew nuclear-capable B2 and B52 bombers over the South as part of the drill, and has since deployed warships with missile defense systems to the region.
Gen. Martin Dempsey said US moves had been “largely defensive and exclusively intended to reassure our allies”.
North Korea has not taken direct military action since 2010, when it shelled a South Korean island and killed four people.
Despite its warning that it could not guarantee the safety of foreign embassies, both Russia and the UK said they had no immediate plans to evacuate their embassies in Pyongyang.
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North Korean people have gathered in Pyongyang for a mass rally to celebrate Wednesday’s long-range rocket launch.
State television showed huge crowds cheering to mark the launch, which has been condemned by many nations as a banned test of missile technology.
South Korea, meanwhile, says its navy has retrieved debris from the rocket and will study it.
The first stage of the rocket fell west of the Korean peninsula. South Korea’s navy located it shortly afterwards.
It was North Korea’s first successful use of a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into orbit. North Korea said on Friday that more launches would go ahead.
The UN Security Council has condemned the launch, calling it a missile test that violated two UN resolutions banning Pyongyang from such activities passed after its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
The US, South Korea and Japan – who believe North Korea is working to develop long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads – want action such as the strengthening of sanctions.
But China – North Korea’s main ally – says any UN response should be “conducive to peace” and avoid escalating tensions.
North Korean people have gathered in Pyongyang for a mass rally to celebrate Wednesday’s long-range rocket launch
In Pyongyang, state television showed pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the control room for the launch, and another of him celebrating with members of the military after it successfully went up.
It also broadcast images of ranks of North Koreans massed in central Pyongyang on Friday to listen to congratulatory speeches.
Kim Ki-nam, party secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, told crowds in Kim Il-sung Square that the satellite was “necessary for the building of our national economy”.
“This is an international trend and the justified independent right of our people,” he said.
“Any hostile forces cannot cling to the insistence that our satellite launch is a ballistic missile launch anymore.”
Ro Gwang-chol, vice-chief of the general staff of the army, said that every soldier in the North celebrated the moment and “have been full of delight and strong emotions”.
There was also much praise for the leader.
“This was achieved thanks to the Great Marshall Kim Jong-un’s endless loyalty, bravery and wisdom,” said Jang Chol, president of the State Academy of Sciences.
The rocket was launched from the North Korean coast early on Wednesday. South Korea says a fuel container was found where the first stage of the rocket separated.
“The Navy’s Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle retrieved the debris of the rocket’s first stage at 00:26 and was delivering it to the Second Command Fleet in Pyeongtaek,” Yonhap news agency quoted a defence ministry official as saying.
It would be “useful material for analysis”, another ministry spokesman said.
On Friday a statement from North Korea’s KCNA news agency said Kim Jong-un had called for more such launches.
North Korea “showed at home and abroad the unshakable stand… to exercise the country’s legitimate right to use space for peaceful purposes”, the KCNA statement quoted him as saying.
The US, meanwhile, said it was holding talks with key players on how to respond to the launch.
“We are working with both our six party partners and with our UN Security Council partners – China is in both of those categories – on a clear and credible response to what the North Koreans have done,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
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