North
Korea threatens
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Musudan
Ri, North Korea (Rocket Launch) Image Collected April 5, 2009 This is a Panchromatic, 50 centimeter (1.6 foot) high-resolution WorldView-1 satellite image featuring the rocket launch from the Musudan Ri launch facility, formerly known as Taepo-dong. |
Graphic on North Korea's rocket launch, includes map of the flight trajectory and details about the rocket's main stages. A triumphant North Korea has broadcast footage of its controversial rocket launch as state press reported Kim Jong-Il wept tears of regret that the money it cost could not have been used to help his people. (AFP/Graphic) Activists
burn a model of a North Korean missile and an image of North Korean
leader Kim Jong-Il during a protest near the US embassy in Seoul
on April 5, 2009. The United States has pushed for a strong UN
response condemning North Korea's missile test, which a South
Korean report said had exposed the limitations of the communist
state's military. (AFP/File/Kim Jae-Hwan) |
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea warned the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that it would take "strong steps" if the 15-nation body took any action in response to Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket. "If the Security Council, they take any kind of steps whatever, we'll consider this is (an) encroachment on our sovereignty and the next option will be ours," Deputy Ambassador Pak Tok Hun told reporters. "Necessary and strong steps will ... follow that." Washington, Tokyo and Seoul say North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile on Sunday in violation of a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning the firing of such missiles by Pyongyang. The resolution was passed after a nuclear test by North Korea. In a rare appearance before reporters at U.N. headquarters, Pak said criticism of the launch was undemocratic and any country was entitled to use outer space peacefully. "It's not fair. It's not fair," he said. "While they themselves launch more than a hundred times the satellites ... we are not allowed to do that. That is not democratic. The Security Council held a 3-hour emergency meeting on Sunday but took no action apart from agreeing to return to the issue. Russia and China, with the support of three other council members, made clear that they opposed U.S. and Japanese demands for a resolution punishing North Korea. The five permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- plus Japan met at U.N. headquarters on Monday to explore a possible compromise, but Japan and the three Western powers failed to persuade Russia and China that strong condemnation was needed. Diplomats from the six powers had planned to meet again on Tuesday. But that meeting was postponed because several delegations "are not ready," one diplomat said. It was not clear when the meeting would go ahead. Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Konstantin Dolgov said he hoped the six could agree on a response that could be put to the full council for unanimous approval. "So far we are not yet there," he added. One diplomat close to the talks on Monday described the situation as a "stalemate." Another diplomat said on Tuesday the talks were still deadlocked. CHINA'S "WATERED DOWN" PROPOSAL As permanent council members, China and Russia have veto powers and have made clear they would be prepared to use them to stop new sanctions on Pyongyang. The United States and Japan would like a resolution that expands existing financial sanctions against North Korea. But U.N. diplomats say the United States and Japan might have to accept a non-binding warning statement from the council instead of a legally binding resolution. A Western diplomat said China had proposed a weak statement, "a completely watered down text which is unacceptable to us (and) ... not even worth discussing." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday the council "must avoid any hasty conclusions" on North Korea, which says the rocket placed a satellite into orbit. Both Moscow and Beijing call for restarting the six-party nuclear talks between the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia, which have been stalled since December. The United States, Japan and South Korea insist that the rocket launch was a clear violation of Security Council resolution 1718, which the council adopted unanimously after North Korea's nuclear test in October 2006. China and Russia are not convinced it was a breach. "We believe the U.N. Security Council should act carefully concerning resolution 1718," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing. "There are similarities but also differences between rocket and missile technology," she said. "Launching a satellite is different in nature from firing a missile or a nuclear test. This issue also involves the right of all countries to peaceful use of outer space." Pak also said it was not a violation of 1718 but a satellite launched with a "peaceful purpose." Beijing, the nearest North Korea has to a major ally, has said any U.N. reaction must be "cautious and proportionate." NORTH KOREA SHOWS ROCKET FOOTAGE Analysts said the launch of the rocket, which soared over Japan during its 3,200 km (2,000 mile) flight, was effectively a test of a ballistic missile potentially capable of carrying a warhead as far as the U.S. state of Alaska. The U.S. military said no part of the Taepodong-2 rocket entered orbit, despite Pyongyang's claim that a satellite is now transmitting data and revolutionary music. North Korean state television broke into regular broadcasting on Tuesday to show footage of the rocket taking off from the Musudan-ri missile base in the northeast. Tokyo said that to ignore a blatant violation of U.N. rules would harm the reputation of the Security Council. "If the violation is left as it is, the credibility and the authority of the Security Council will be undermined," Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said. Analysts said the launch showed the impoverished North had increased the range of its missiles even though it may be years away from building a missile to threaten the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's defiance also grabbed global attention for his destitute state and may have bettered his hand by using the negotiating strategy of using military threats to squeeze concessions from regional powers. (Additional reporting Jon Herskovitz in Seoul, Conor Sweeney in Moscow, Isabel Reynolds, Chisa Fujioka and Yoko Kubota in Tokyo; Writing by Louis Charbonneau, Editing by Doina Chiacu) References: digitalglobe.com |
SEOUL, South Korea – The U.S. and its allies sought punishment for North Korea's defiant launch of a rocket that apparently fizzled into the Pacific, holding an emergency U.N. meeting in response to the "provocative act" that some believe was a long-range missile test. President Barack Obama, faced with his first global security crisis, called for an international response and condemned North Korea for threatening the peace and stability of nations "near and far." Minutes after liftoff, Japan requested the emergency Security Council session in New York. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak expressed indignation Monday on national radio, saying "North Korea's reckless act of threatening regional and global security cannot have any justification." U.S. and South Korean officials claim the entire rocket, including whatever payload it carried, ended up in the ocean after Sunday's launch, but many world leaders fear the launch indicates the capacity to fire a long-range missile. Pyongyang claims it launched a communications satellite into orbit that is now transmitting data and patriotic songs. "North Korea broke the rules, once again, by testing a rocket that could be used for long-range missiles," Obama said in Prague. "It creates instability in their region, around the world. This provocation underscores the need for action, not just this afternoon in the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons." Council members met for three hours Sunday, seeking a unified response, but the meeting ended with a deadlock, breaking up for the night without issuing even a customary preliminary statement of condemnation. Diplomats privy to the closed-door talks say China, Russia, Libya and Vietnam were concerned about further alienating and destabilizing North Korea. "We're now in a very sensitive moment," Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui said after the talks. "Our position is that all countries concerned should show restraint and refrain from taking actions that might lead to increased tensions." Diplomats continued bilateral talks into the evening. The council's five permanent members — the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia — left for a meeting with Japan. The U.S. Britain, France and Japan drafted a proposal for a resolution that could be adopted by the end of the week. It aims to toughen existing economic sanctions by "naming and shaming" individuals and entities, diplomats said. Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller, the council's president, said the council would reconvene "as soon as possible" on Monday. Using a possible loophole in U.N. sanctions that bar the North from ballistic missile activity, Pyongyang claimed it was exercising its right to peaceful space development. The U.S. said nuclear-armed North Korea clearly violated the resolution, but objections from Russia and China — the North's closest ally — will almost certainly water down any response. Both have Security Council veto power.
"Obviously today's action by North Korea constitutes a clear violation," said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "My government has called this a provocative act, and we have been in consultation today with our allies in the region and other partners on the Security Council ... to work toward agreement on a strong collective action." While the rogue communist state has repeatedly been belligerent — as it was when it carried out an underground nuclear blast and tested ballistic missiles in recent years — Pyongyang showed increased savvy this time that may make punishment more complicated. Unlike previous provocations, the North notified the international community that the launch was coming and the route the rocket would take, although critics of North Korea leader Kim Jong Il claim he really was testing a ballistic missile capable of hitting U.S. territory. Kim is reportedly a big film buff,and his strategy appears to have borrowed heavily from the 1959 movie "The Mouse That Roared," about a fictional poor country that declares war on the U.S., expecting to lose and get aid like the Marshall Plan that Washington used to help rebuild its World War II foes. North Korea's state Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim observed the launch. He expressed "great satisfaction" that North Korea's technicians "successfully launched the satellite with their own wisdom and technology." South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting local MBC TV, reported that Shin Son Ho, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N., told reporters in New York, "We are happy. Very, very successful. You should congratulate" us. The mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Monday that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities confirmed that the rocket's second stage landed in waters about 1,984 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the launch site, showing that North Korea has succeeded in about doubling the range compared to a 1998 launch. Despite its policy of "juche," or "self-reliance," communist North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries, has few allies and is in desperate need of outside help. The money that flowed in unconditionally from neighboring South Korea for a decade dried up when the conservative Lee took office in 2008. Pyongyang for years has used its nuclear weapons program as its trump card, promising to abandon its atomic ambitions in exchange for aid and then exercising the nuclear threat when it doesn't get its way. The North also has reportedly been selling missile parts and technology to whoever has the cash to pay for it. Kim wants food for his famished people, fuel and - perhaps most importantly - direct talks and relations with Washington. Right now, the main contact is through six-nation talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program. Kim Keun-sik, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Kyungnam University, said the launch would chill ties between Pyongyang and Washington, but likely not for long. "Wouldn't they eventually come to hold talks? There is no other way," Kim said. U.S. officials also are trying to obtain the release of two American journalists recently detained by the North along its border with China. Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank, predicted they would be used as bargaining chips, with the North likely "to try to link them to the nuclear and missile talks." Iran, which also has a contentious relationship with the international community over its nuclear program and is believed to have cooperated extensively with North Korea on missile technology, defended the launch. "North Korea, like any other country, has the right to enter space," Iran's state TV said in a commentary, adding that the "pressure on North Korea to give up its indisputable right" was "unfair and dishonest." ---------------- Associated Press writers Jean H. Lee, Hyung-jin Kim, Jae-soon Chang and Kelly Olsen in Seoul contributed to this report. Heilprin reported from the United Nations. Source: Yahoo News last April 4th, 2009, President Obama addressed to ending the threat of nuclear arms, "The only way forward is through shared and persistent efforts to combat fear and want wherever they exist." .
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PYONGYANG,
North Korea (CNN) -- North Korea handed over its long-awaited nuclear
program declaration to officials from China on Thursday.
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At
Last, The North Korea handed over
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President George W. Bush delivers a statement on North Korea Thursday, June 26, 2008, in the Rose Garden of the White House. Said the President, "The policy of the United States is a Korean Peninsula free of all nuclear weapons. This morning, we moved a step closer to that goal, when North Korean officials submitted a declaration of their nuclear programs to the Chinese government as part of the six-party talks." White House photo by Chris Greenberg | President George Bush will notifying Congress to rescind North Korea's designation as a state sponsor of terror in 45 days and will work through the six-party talks to develop a comprehensive and rigorous verification protocol. And during this period, the United States will carefully observe North Korea's actions -- and act accordingly. Photo Credit: CNN |
June 27, 2008: Yong Byen Nuclear Reactor is now destroyed to exchange their Aid : Photo Credit: CNN | North Korea is No longer will be able to test the Nuclear test after more than 9 nuclear test. Photo Credit: CNN |
Feb. 22: In this image from television, foreign reporters and workers in protective gear are seen at North Korea's main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon. North Korea opened its main nuclear reactor to foreign media for the first time Friday in a bid to show that it is complying with a disarmament accord to disable the facility. | Feb, 22: This facility and the surrounding nuclear industrial complex produces North Korea nuclear weapons. Six party talks designed to close this facility are ongoing. |
PYONGYANG,
North Korea (CNN) -- North Korea handed over its long-awaited nuclear
program declaration to officials from China on Thursday.
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