North Korea prepares to launch rocket
- 12 years ago
ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION
STORY: North Korea on Sunday took members of the foreign media to visit the site of a rocket launch it is planning in defiance of a United Nations (U.N.) resolution and despite condemnation from the United States and its allies.
North Korea says the Unha-3 rocket will carry a weather satellite into space when it is launched between April 12 and 16 to coincide with the centenary of the country's founding father Kim Il-sung.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have said the rocket is a disguised ballistic missile test.
Dozens of members of the foreign media were taken by train to the Sohae (West Sea in English) Satellite Launch site.
Jang Myong Jin, the site's director, said the invitation was a 'bold decision' by the country's new leader Kim Jong-un, which aimed to prove that the rocket was being used for peaceful means.
"If it were a ballistic missile it would have to be hidden in an underground chamber, or would need to be carried aboard another vehicle for protection. If it were not, then it would be useless in a real war," he told a crowd of members of the media.
North Korea agreed in February to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches in return for food aid, but that has all since unravelled with the North's rocket launch.
Japan and South Korea have said the rocket's launch would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution, and have warned of international consequences if it goes ahead.
"I believe the U.N. resolution did not forbid us launching a satellite using a launch vehicle. And according to international laws on space, which are above a UN resolution, every country is independent in space development and has sovereign rights in the matter. I see no reason why the DPRK should be excluded from development in space," Jang said.
Members of the media were shown a Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite which guides said will be loaded into the rocket, and will play the "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and the "Song of General Kim Jong-il" in space.
"This satellite will have a very significant meaning in terms of our economic development and improving the people's standard of living," a scientist told reporters.
Two missiles launches have failed in the past, but Washington says North Korea's missile programme is progressing quickly and that the American mainland could come under threat within five years.
Following the announcement of the launch, the United States suspended a planned 240,000 tonnes of food aid agreed at the end of February.
From the train, reporters saw evidence of poverty in the countryside, where the United Nations says malnutrition in children is widespread.
STORY: North Korea on Sunday took members of the foreign media to visit the site of a rocket launch it is planning in defiance of a United Nations (U.N.) resolution and despite condemnation from the United States and its allies.
North Korea says the Unha-3 rocket will carry a weather satellite into space when it is launched between April 12 and 16 to coincide with the centenary of the country's founding father Kim Il-sung.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have said the rocket is a disguised ballistic missile test.
Dozens of members of the foreign media were taken by train to the Sohae (West Sea in English) Satellite Launch site.
Jang Myong Jin, the site's director, said the invitation was a 'bold decision' by the country's new leader Kim Jong-un, which aimed to prove that the rocket was being used for peaceful means.
"If it were a ballistic missile it would have to be hidden in an underground chamber, or would need to be carried aboard another vehicle for protection. If it were not, then it would be useless in a real war," he told a crowd of members of the media.
North Korea agreed in February to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches in return for food aid, but that has all since unravelled with the North's rocket launch.
Japan and South Korea have said the rocket's launch would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution, and have warned of international consequences if it goes ahead.
"I believe the U.N. resolution did not forbid us launching a satellite using a launch vehicle. And according to international laws on space, which are above a UN resolution, every country is independent in space development and has sovereign rights in the matter. I see no reason why the DPRK should be excluded from development in space," Jang said.
Members of the media were shown a Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite which guides said will be loaded into the rocket, and will play the "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and the "Song of General Kim Jong-il" in space.
"This satellite will have a very significant meaning in terms of our economic development and improving the people's standard of living," a scientist told reporters.
Two missiles launches have failed in the past, but Washington says North Korea's missile programme is progressing quickly and that the American mainland could come under threat within five years.
Following the announcement of the launch, the United States suspended a planned 240,000 tonnes of food aid agreed at the end of February.
From the train, reporters saw evidence of poverty in the countryside, where the United Nations says malnutrition in children is widespread.