Seoul says N. Korean rocket launch "serious threat" to world peace

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks, more details)
SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's presidential office condemned North
Korea on Sunday for firing a long-range rocket, calling it a "serious threat" to
world peace.
"We cannot withhold our regrets and disappointment that North Korea has caused
such a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the world by firing
a long-range rocket when the entire world is joining efforts to overcome the
global economic crisis," Lee Dong-kwan, a spokesman for the presidential office
Cheong Wa Dae, said.
The spokesman confirmed the communist nation launched its rocket at 15 seconds
past 11:30 a.m.
"The government will take firm and stern countermeasures against the North's
provocation," Lee said. "But we will also wait with patience and consistency for
North Korea to change."
Pyongyang earlier said it planned to launch a rocket to put a satellite into
orbit, but Seoul and its closest ally Washington had suspected the move was cover
for a long-range missile test.
Lee said the country has yet to confirm whether it actually was a satellite.
President Lee Myung-bak convened a meeting of the National Security Council
earlier Sunday to discuss the government's countermeasures that, according to
officials, could include its joining the U.S.-led anti-proliferation regime,
known as the Proliferation Security Initiative.
"The country's official measures against the launch will be announced by related
ministries," the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman told the press conference.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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