Obama warns of strong response to N. Korean rocket launch

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday denounced North Korea for launching a rocket which could be used for a ballistic missile in defiance of a U.N. resolution, warning of a "strong response" at the U.N. Security Council.

"North Korea broke the rules once again by testing a rocket that could be used
for long range missiles," Obama said in a speech in Prague, the Czech Republic.
"This provocation underscores the need for action - not just this afternoon at
the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of
these weapons."
Obama was talking about the security council meeting to be convened at the U.N.
headquarters in New York later Sunday to discuss possible sanctions against the
rocket launch which the U.S. military authorities described as a failed attempt
to send a satellite into space.
The U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement that "Stage one of the missile
fell into the Sea of Japan. The remaining stages along with the payload itself
landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on
Japan."
"North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials
acknowledged today that North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 missile at 10:30 p.m.
EDT Saturday which passed over the Sea of Japan and the nation of Japan," the
statement said. "NORAD and USNORTHCOM assessed the space launch vehicle as not a
threat to North America or Hawaii and took no action in response to this launch."
Obama, now on a European tour after attending the G20 economic summit in London,
said that the U.S. will seek strong action at the security council.
"Now is the time for a strong international response and North Korea must know
that the path to security and respect will never come through threats and illegal
weapons," he said. "Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words
must mean something. We must stand shoulder to shoulder to pressure the North
Koreans to change course."
Obama's description of the launch as "a rocket that could be used for long-range
missiles," a change from the term "a Taepodong II missile" which he used in a
statement earlier in the day, however, heralds complications involved in any
further sanctions on the North.
"The launch today of a Taepodong 2 missile was a clear violation of United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which expressly prohibits North Korea
from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind," Obama said in
statement issued shortly after the launch.
North Korea claims it successfully placed a communications satellite into space,
saying it's part of its peaceful space program.
Obama met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Wednesday in London, where
they agreed to bring the North's rocket launch to the security council.
Chinese President Hu Jintao also met with Obama on the margins of the G20 summit
in London but refrained from giving the same assurance as Beijing is reluctant to
condemn its longtime ally.
The U.S. has reportedly circulated a draft resolution to be discussed at the
security council meeting on punitive actions against the launch. Washington and
its allies insist the launch violated U.N. Resolution 1718, adopted after the
North's nuclear test in 2006.
Some experts predict a chairman's statement may be issued to reiterate the
importance of enforcing the resolution in the face of a reluctant China and
Russia, who wield veto power in the 15-member council. The sanctions under
resolution 1718 are believed to have been largely neglected by member states due
to a lack of strong implementation measures.
Obama reiterated in the statement his government's commitment to six-party talks
for North Korea's denuclearization despite the rocket launch.
"The United States is fully committed to maintaining security and stability in
northeast Asia and we will continue working for the verifiable denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula through the Six-Party Talks," he said. "Preventing the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is a
high priority for my administration."
He urged the North to return to the six-party talks that remain stalled over how
to verify North Korea's past and present nuclear activities.
The six-nation negotiations "provide the forum for achieving denuclearization,
reducing tensions, and for resolving other issues of concern between North Korea,
its four neighbors, and the United States," he said. "North Korea has a pathway
to acceptance in the international community, but it will not find that
acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and
abides by its international obligations and commitments."
Stephen Bosworth, Obama's special representative for North Korea, Friday
described the North's rocket launch as a "short-term problem" which should not
stand in the way of "everyone's long-term interest in getting back to the
negotiations in the six-party process as expeditiously as possible."
North Korea has threatened to abandon the six-party talks only if the U.S. and
its allies bring the rocket launch to the U.N. Security Council for punitive
action.
Pyongyang has also hinted at conducting a second nuclear test in disregard to
U.N. resolution 1718 in an apparent bid to gain more leverage over the fledgling
Obama administraion before fully engaging the U.S. with nuclear as well as
missile talks.