For all the North Korea watchers out there. (Edit: I copied the Guardian Article in Full, so it's a bit long).
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ange-rocket-it-claims-is-carrying-a-satellite
"The United Nations security council has condemned North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket, after an emergency meeting in New York and calls by the US, South Korea and Japan for talks on how to respond to the isolated country’s latest action.
The 15 council members unanimously approved a statement that stressed how any launch of ballistic missile technology, “even if characterised as a satellite launch or space launch vehicle”, contributes to North Korea’s development of systems to deliver nuclear weapons.
World leaders have warned of serious consequences after North Korea launched the rocket on Sunday morning in defiance of international sanctions banning it from using ballistic missile technology.
The security council had been discussing discussed a new round of sanctions against the Pyongyang regime following its fourth nuclear test last month. In a statement, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, condemned the launch as “deeply deplorable” and urged North Korea to “halt its provocative actions”.
Despite the latest moves, Pyongyang has remained defiant, releasing a statement via its Moscow embassy saying it intends to continue launching rockets carrying satellites into space.
The statement also noted the council’s commitment “to continue working toward a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation leading to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”.
“The state agency on space exploration, following the policy of the Workers’ party of Korea on giving priority to science and technology, will continue to launch more manmade satellites,” Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted the embassy as saying.
Pyongyang said the rocket had successfully put an Earth observation satellite into orbit, but the US and its allies believe the regime uses satellite launches as covert tests of technology that could be used to develop a missile capable of striking the US mainland.
North Korean state TV said in a special announcement at lunchtime on Sunday that the launch, ordered the previous day by the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had been a “complete success”.
An announcer said the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite – named after the late leader Kim Jong-il – was orbiting Earth every 94 minutes, adding that North Korea planned further satellite launches.
The launch demonstrated North Korea’s right to develop a “peaceful and independent” space programme, but the announcer noted that it marked a “breakthrough in boosting our national defence capability”.
The US strategic command said it had detected a missile entering space, and South Korea’s military said the launch appeared to have been a success. South Korean defence officials later said they had retrieved what they believed to be a fairing dropped by the rocket as it hurtled towards the upper atmosphere. The object was found south-east of South Korea’s Jeju island by a navy ship, a defence ministry official said. A fairing shields the payload, or satellite, carried by a rocket into space.
John Schilling, a missile technology expert, said it bore similarities to a previous successful North Korean rocket launch just over three years ago. “Everything we have seen is consistent with a successful repeat of the 2012 launch,” said Schilling, who is involved in the “38 North” monitoring project at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. “But it’s still too early to tell for sure.”
The launch drew immediate international condemnation. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, said it was “a flagrant violation of UN security council resolutions” that ban Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology.
Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, strongly condemned the launch and said North Korea could face further sanctions as the Foreign Office summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador in London for a dressing down.
“We will be working with other partners, particularly the US, Japan, South Korea, in the United Nations, to take additional steps, additional measures against North Korea, stepping up the pressure,” he said. “We are all focused on looking at additional economic sanctions which could be applied against North Korea.”
Beijing’s response would be crucial to putting pressure on North Korea to change course, Hammond added.
South Korea said on Sunday that it and the US would begin discussions on deploying an advanced missile defence system to counter the growing threat of North Korea’s weapons capabilities.
Australia responded to the launch by branding North Korea a threat to world peace. The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, told reporters in Canberra the government joins the international community in condemning “North Korea’s provocative, dangerous and destabilising behaviour”.
“North Korea continues to pose a threat to the region and the globe,” she said.
US military officials have said the sophisticated system called terminal high altitude area defence (THAAD) was needed in South Korea, which faces the threat of an increasingly advanced North Korean missile programme.
“If THAAD is deployed to the Korean peninsula, it will be only operated against North Korea,” Ryu Je-seung, a senior official at the South Korean defence ministry, said in a joint news conference with Thomas Vandal, commander of the Eighth US Army based in South Korea.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ange-rocket-it-claims-is-carrying-a-satellite
"The United Nations security council has condemned North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket, after an emergency meeting in New York and calls by the US, South Korea and Japan for talks on how to respond to the isolated country’s latest action.
The 15 council members unanimously approved a statement that stressed how any launch of ballistic missile technology, “even if characterised as a satellite launch or space launch vehicle”, contributes to North Korea’s development of systems to deliver nuclear weapons.
World leaders have warned of serious consequences after North Korea launched the rocket on Sunday morning in defiance of international sanctions banning it from using ballistic missile technology.
The security council had been discussing discussed a new round of sanctions against the Pyongyang regime following its fourth nuclear test last month. In a statement, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, condemned the launch as “deeply deplorable” and urged North Korea to “halt its provocative actions”.
Despite the latest moves, Pyongyang has remained defiant, releasing a statement via its Moscow embassy saying it intends to continue launching rockets carrying satellites into space.
The statement also noted the council’s commitment “to continue working toward a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation leading to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”.
“The state agency on space exploration, following the policy of the Workers’ party of Korea on giving priority to science and technology, will continue to launch more manmade satellites,” Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted the embassy as saying.
Pyongyang said the rocket had successfully put an Earth observation satellite into orbit, but the US and its allies believe the regime uses satellite launches as covert tests of technology that could be used to develop a missile capable of striking the US mainland.
North Korean state TV said in a special announcement at lunchtime on Sunday that the launch, ordered the previous day by the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had been a “complete success”.
An announcer said the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite – named after the late leader Kim Jong-il – was orbiting Earth every 94 minutes, adding that North Korea planned further satellite launches.
The launch demonstrated North Korea’s right to develop a “peaceful and independent” space programme, but the announcer noted that it marked a “breakthrough in boosting our national defence capability”.
The US strategic command said it had detected a missile entering space, and South Korea’s military said the launch appeared to have been a success. South Korean defence officials later said they had retrieved what they believed to be a fairing dropped by the rocket as it hurtled towards the upper atmosphere. The object was found south-east of South Korea’s Jeju island by a navy ship, a defence ministry official said. A fairing shields the payload, or satellite, carried by a rocket into space.
John Schilling, a missile technology expert, said it bore similarities to a previous successful North Korean rocket launch just over three years ago. “Everything we have seen is consistent with a successful repeat of the 2012 launch,” said Schilling, who is involved in the “38 North” monitoring project at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. “But it’s still too early to tell for sure.”
The launch drew immediate international condemnation. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, said it was “a flagrant violation of UN security council resolutions” that ban Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology.
Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, strongly condemned the launch and said North Korea could face further sanctions as the Foreign Office summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador in London for a dressing down.
“We will be working with other partners, particularly the US, Japan, South Korea, in the United Nations, to take additional steps, additional measures against North Korea, stepping up the pressure,” he said. “We are all focused on looking at additional economic sanctions which could be applied against North Korea.”
Beijing’s response would be crucial to putting pressure on North Korea to change course, Hammond added.
South Korea said on Sunday that it and the US would begin discussions on deploying an advanced missile defence system to counter the growing threat of North Korea’s weapons capabilities.
Australia responded to the launch by branding North Korea a threat to world peace. The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, told reporters in Canberra the government joins the international community in condemning “North Korea’s provocative, dangerous and destabilising behaviour”.
“North Korea continues to pose a threat to the region and the globe,” she said.
US military officials have said the sophisticated system called terminal high altitude area defence (THAAD) was needed in South Korea, which faces the threat of an increasingly advanced North Korean missile programme.
“If THAAD is deployed to the Korean peninsula, it will be only operated against North Korea,” Ryu Je-seung, a senior official at the South Korean defence ministry, said in a joint news conference with Thomas Vandal, commander of the Eighth US Army based in South Korea.