ID :
45866
Mon, 02/16/2009 - 17:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/45866
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea signals satellite launch, feasts on leader's birthday
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea signaled Monday that it is preparing to launch a satellite, sharpening its coercive diplomacy on leader Kim Jong-il's birthday amid rising tension with South Korea and stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.
Pyongyang made clear it will go ahead with what it called its "space development"
program, a possible message to Washington ahead of U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton's visit to Seoul this week.
"One will come to know later what will be launched in the DPRK," the North's
official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. DPRK stands for the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
The statement denied intelligence information from Seoul and Washington that
Pyongyang appeared to be preparing to test-launch a long-range missile.
"Space development is the independent right of the DPRK and the requirement of
the developing reality," the KCNA said, calling outside reports a "vicious
trick" to stop its sovereign activity.
The North made a similar claim after launching a rocket in 1998, saying it
succeeded in putting a satellite in orbit. The U.S. later called the event a
failed satellite launch, saying Pyongyang had not yet mastered the solid-fuel
technology required for such a launch.
Despite the failure, the event marked North Korea's first attempt to fly a
three-stage rocket and led the Bill Clinton administration to initiate missile
talks with Pyongyang.
With the administration of Barack Obama just entering it third week, North Korea
will likely wait until Washington rolls out new policy to decide whether to take
a final step toward a launch, said Cha Doo-hyeogn, an analyst with the Korea
Institute for Defense Analyses, a state-run think tank.
"North Korea is putting one foot forward to see how Hillary Clinton will respond.
It wants to see how far the U.S. will lay out its policy spectrum," Cha said.
Pyongyang has called on Washington to normalize relations, which would open doors
to large economic assistance for the communist state. Negotiations on Pyongyang's
nuclear program are on hold due to a dispute over how to verify its past
activity.
South Korea rejected the North's claim that it has a right to space development.
"Whether it is a missile or a satellite, (a launch) would constitute a violation
of the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 1718," Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan
said in a parliamentary session, referring to a resolution adopted in 2006 after
the North test-launched a long-range missile. The Taepodong-2 fizzled about 40
seconds after blast-off.
South Korea and the U.S. view North Korea's satellite activity as a threat, as
putting a rocket into orbit could lead to the development of a long-range missile
system. When Iran launched its first satellite into orbit early this month, the
U.S. called it "grave concern."
North Korea has long wanted a satellite to gather military and other information,
separate from its missile program, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies
professor at Dongguk University.
"The international community and regional countries view the activity as missile
program, while North Korea says it's satellite program. Chairman Kim Jong-il
always needed one and likely has pushed his workers to develop one," Koh said.
Turning to Seoul's conservative government, Pyongyang issued a harsher, more
direct message. The North's titular head of state, Kim Yong-nam, berated the
Seoul government as "anti-unification war-mongers" and warned of "decisive
action" on the eve of the leader's birthday.
North Korea in recent weeks vowed to take an "all-out confrontational posture"
against the Lee Myung-bak government and threatened naval clashes along a shared
western sea border, in what appeared to be an attempt to pressure Lee into
dropping his tough policy.
Domestically, North Korea drummed up a festive mood as citizens renewed pledges
of loyalty to leader Kim, who appeared to be back in charge after a reported
stroke last summer.
"This February morning that beautifully ascended with our prayers, the earnest
wish running over in the heart of the millions of people is the well-being and
good health of our great father," said an anchor on the Korean Central
Broadcasting Station.
Warm wishes for good health and hero-worship abounded on the leader's birthday,
as the government handed out free food, liquor and daily necessities to citizens
as gifts from Kim. Streets, bridges and residential quarters were decorated with
flowers and electric lamps, and a flower festival named after the leader and
athletic events stirred up the festive mood, reports said.
An "endless stream of visitors" flowed to Kim's birthplace on Mount Paekdu, the
KCNA said.
Outside experts believe Kim was actually born in a Soviet village in 1942.
Yet as the North reveled in celebrations, just south of the border the leader was
dubbed "the most vicious dictator and murderer" by activists flying
anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea.
"We planned this, recalling Chairman Kim Jong-il handing out birthday gifts to
citizens," Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector and head of Seoul-based Freedom
Fighters for North Korea, said before flying some 20,000 leaflets attached to
gas-filled balloons from Imjingak village near the western border.
The activists attached North Korean currency to the leaflets to encourage people
to pick them up, but an unfavorable wind direction made their flight beyond the
border uncertain. With the propaganda campaign sure to provoke Pyongyang, Seoul's
Unification Ministry called for restraint and warned of potential consequences.
Kim's birthday is the most important holiday in the North along with April 15,
the birthday of his late father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung. The younger
Kim took over when his father died in 1994, the first hereditary power succession
in a communist regime.
Since his reported stroke in August, speculation has mounted over who Kim will
name as his successor. Intelligence sources told Yonhap last month that Kim,
apparently driven by his poor health condition, named his third and youngest son,
Kim Jong-un, to the country's highest position.
North Korea also holds parliamentary elections on March 8, an important vote that
analysts in Seoul say could lay the groundwork for the post-Kim era.
Kim's military shakeup last week, in which some of his close confidantes were
promoted, was also seen as a sign that the leader is assembling his aides ahead
of his choice of a successor.
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea signaled Monday that it is preparing to launch a satellite, sharpening its coercive diplomacy on leader Kim Jong-il's birthday amid rising tension with South Korea and stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.
Pyongyang made clear it will go ahead with what it called its "space development"
program, a possible message to Washington ahead of U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton's visit to Seoul this week.
"One will come to know later what will be launched in the DPRK," the North's
official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. DPRK stands for the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
The statement denied intelligence information from Seoul and Washington that
Pyongyang appeared to be preparing to test-launch a long-range missile.
"Space development is the independent right of the DPRK and the requirement of
the developing reality," the KCNA said, calling outside reports a "vicious
trick" to stop its sovereign activity.
The North made a similar claim after launching a rocket in 1998, saying it
succeeded in putting a satellite in orbit. The U.S. later called the event a
failed satellite launch, saying Pyongyang had not yet mastered the solid-fuel
technology required for such a launch.
Despite the failure, the event marked North Korea's first attempt to fly a
three-stage rocket and led the Bill Clinton administration to initiate missile
talks with Pyongyang.
With the administration of Barack Obama just entering it third week, North Korea
will likely wait until Washington rolls out new policy to decide whether to take
a final step toward a launch, said Cha Doo-hyeogn, an analyst with the Korea
Institute for Defense Analyses, a state-run think tank.
"North Korea is putting one foot forward to see how Hillary Clinton will respond.
It wants to see how far the U.S. will lay out its policy spectrum," Cha said.
Pyongyang has called on Washington to normalize relations, which would open doors
to large economic assistance for the communist state. Negotiations on Pyongyang's
nuclear program are on hold due to a dispute over how to verify its past
activity.
South Korea rejected the North's claim that it has a right to space development.
"Whether it is a missile or a satellite, (a launch) would constitute a violation
of the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 1718," Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan
said in a parliamentary session, referring to a resolution adopted in 2006 after
the North test-launched a long-range missile. The Taepodong-2 fizzled about 40
seconds after blast-off.
South Korea and the U.S. view North Korea's satellite activity as a threat, as
putting a rocket into orbit could lead to the development of a long-range missile
system. When Iran launched its first satellite into orbit early this month, the
U.S. called it "grave concern."
North Korea has long wanted a satellite to gather military and other information,
separate from its missile program, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies
professor at Dongguk University.
"The international community and regional countries view the activity as missile
program, while North Korea says it's satellite program. Chairman Kim Jong-il
always needed one and likely has pushed his workers to develop one," Koh said.
Turning to Seoul's conservative government, Pyongyang issued a harsher, more
direct message. The North's titular head of state, Kim Yong-nam, berated the
Seoul government as "anti-unification war-mongers" and warned of "decisive
action" on the eve of the leader's birthday.
North Korea in recent weeks vowed to take an "all-out confrontational posture"
against the Lee Myung-bak government and threatened naval clashes along a shared
western sea border, in what appeared to be an attempt to pressure Lee into
dropping his tough policy.
Domestically, North Korea drummed up a festive mood as citizens renewed pledges
of loyalty to leader Kim, who appeared to be back in charge after a reported
stroke last summer.
"This February morning that beautifully ascended with our prayers, the earnest
wish running over in the heart of the millions of people is the well-being and
good health of our great father," said an anchor on the Korean Central
Broadcasting Station.
Warm wishes for good health and hero-worship abounded on the leader's birthday,
as the government handed out free food, liquor and daily necessities to citizens
as gifts from Kim. Streets, bridges and residential quarters were decorated with
flowers and electric lamps, and a flower festival named after the leader and
athletic events stirred up the festive mood, reports said.
An "endless stream of visitors" flowed to Kim's birthplace on Mount Paekdu, the
KCNA said.
Outside experts believe Kim was actually born in a Soviet village in 1942.
Yet as the North reveled in celebrations, just south of the border the leader was
dubbed "the most vicious dictator and murderer" by activists flying
anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea.
"We planned this, recalling Chairman Kim Jong-il handing out birthday gifts to
citizens," Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector and head of Seoul-based Freedom
Fighters for North Korea, said before flying some 20,000 leaflets attached to
gas-filled balloons from Imjingak village near the western border.
The activists attached North Korean currency to the leaflets to encourage people
to pick them up, but an unfavorable wind direction made their flight beyond the
border uncertain. With the propaganda campaign sure to provoke Pyongyang, Seoul's
Unification Ministry called for restraint and warned of potential consequences.
Kim's birthday is the most important holiday in the North along with April 15,
the birthday of his late father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung. The younger
Kim took over when his father died in 1994, the first hereditary power succession
in a communist regime.
Since his reported stroke in August, speculation has mounted over who Kim will
name as his successor. Intelligence sources told Yonhap last month that Kim,
apparently driven by his poor health condition, named his third and youngest son,
Kim Jong-un, to the country's highest position.
North Korea also holds parliamentary elections on March 8, an important vote that
analysts in Seoul say could lay the groundwork for the post-Kim era.
Kim's military shakeup last week, in which some of his close confidantes were
promoted, was also seen as a sign that the leader is assembling his aides ahead
of his choice of a successor.
