ID :
54151
Tue, 04/07/2009 - 07:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/54151
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea hopes to launch more rockets: report
SEOUL, April 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea hopes to launch more satellites to boost its economy, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan said Monday, a day after the communist nation fired a rocket that experts say could also carry a missile.
Sunday's launch of what Pyongyang calls an experimental communications satellite,
Kwangmyongsong-2, was the opening stage of a larger plan to send various
practical satellites into orbit in the future, said Choson Sinbo, which typically
conveys North Korea's official position.
The report, published by ethnic Koreans in Japan, described the launch as
"productive" and "historic," but did not say if it was successful as North Korea
claims.
The North's state media said the satellite launched from the country's east coast
and is now in orbit, while outside monitors concluded the rocket's final stages
fell into the Pacific Ocean and never entered space.
South Korea, Japan and the United States had warned the North not to go ahead
with the launch, suspecting it would be a test of Pyongyang's ballistic missile
capability.
"North Korea is preparing to launch practical satellites for the purpose of
communications, exploration of natural resources and weather forecasting, which
are essential for the country's economic development," the Choson Sinbo said.
The paper featured an interview with the head of a North Korean national weather
agency, Ko Sang-bok, who called the launch a "historic feat" that raised national
morale and took the country closer to its foremost goal of becoming a powerful
nation by 2012. The year is important for North Korea as the centennial of the
birth of late President Kim Il-sung, father of current leader Kim Jong-il.
"Within the next few years, during which our country plans to launch a
polar-orbiting meteorological satellite or a geostationary meteorological
satellite, great progress will be achieved in the field of weather forecasting,"
Ko said, adding his country currently receives data from China and Russia.
"This experimental communications satellite launch is a front stage procedure
toward launching a meteorological satellite and other practical satellites," he
said.
The Choson Sinbo said on Sunday that the launch will be a major boost for North
Korea's 2012 economic campaign, paving the ground for rocket technology exports.
"North Korea's biggest agenda at this time is economic reconstruction.
Large-scale rocket development is related to its citizens' livelihoods," the
paper said, citing "a series of economic benefits" through civilian technology
transfer and rocket sales.
South Korea and the U.S. said the first booster of the three-stage carrier rocket
fell into the East Sea lying between Korea and Japan, while the second and third
stages fell into the Pacific Ocean.
After launching its first satellite, Kwangmyongsong-1, in 1998, North Korea also
claimed it was operating in orbit, while international monitors said it was a
failed launch.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
Sunday's launch of what Pyongyang calls an experimental communications satellite,
Kwangmyongsong-2, was the opening stage of a larger plan to send various
practical satellites into orbit in the future, said Choson Sinbo, which typically
conveys North Korea's official position.
The report, published by ethnic Koreans in Japan, described the launch as
"productive" and "historic," but did not say if it was successful as North Korea
claims.
The North's state media said the satellite launched from the country's east coast
and is now in orbit, while outside monitors concluded the rocket's final stages
fell into the Pacific Ocean and never entered space.
South Korea, Japan and the United States had warned the North not to go ahead
with the launch, suspecting it would be a test of Pyongyang's ballistic missile
capability.
"North Korea is preparing to launch practical satellites for the purpose of
communications, exploration of natural resources and weather forecasting, which
are essential for the country's economic development," the Choson Sinbo said.
The paper featured an interview with the head of a North Korean national weather
agency, Ko Sang-bok, who called the launch a "historic feat" that raised national
morale and took the country closer to its foremost goal of becoming a powerful
nation by 2012. The year is important for North Korea as the centennial of the
birth of late President Kim Il-sung, father of current leader Kim Jong-il.
"Within the next few years, during which our country plans to launch a
polar-orbiting meteorological satellite or a geostationary meteorological
satellite, great progress will be achieved in the field of weather forecasting,"
Ko said, adding his country currently receives data from China and Russia.
"This experimental communications satellite launch is a front stage procedure
toward launching a meteorological satellite and other practical satellites," he
said.
The Choson Sinbo said on Sunday that the launch will be a major boost for North
Korea's 2012 economic campaign, paving the ground for rocket technology exports.
"North Korea's biggest agenda at this time is economic reconstruction.
Large-scale rocket development is related to its citizens' livelihoods," the
paper said, citing "a series of economic benefits" through civilian technology
transfer and rocket sales.
South Korea and the U.S. said the first booster of the three-stage carrier rocket
fell into the East Sea lying between Korea and Japan, while the second and third
stages fell into the Pacific Ocean.
After launching its first satellite, Kwangmyongsong-1, in 1998, North Korea also
claimed it was operating in orbit, while international monitors said it was a
failed launch.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
