N. KOREA PREPARING TO LAUNCH SATELLITE
North Korea is preparing to launch a satellite, a Seoul newspaper said
Tuesday, as outside observers warn that the nuclear-armed regime's space
programme is a fig leaf for weapon tests.
Pyongyang is under multiple UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile
tests and is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile
technology including satellites.
"Through various channels, we've recently learned that the North
has completed a new satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-5", the Joongang
Ilbo daily reported, quoting a South Korean government source.
"Their plan is to put a satellite equipped with cameras and
telecommunication devices into orbit", he said.
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Pyongyang launched their Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite in February 2016,
which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic
missile test.
A spokesman for the South Korean military joint chiefs of staff said
there was "nothing out of ordinary at this moment" but added that
Seoul was watching out for any provocative acts "including the test of a
long-range missile disguised as a satellite launch".
The report came as the North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun
reasserted the regime's right to launch satellites and develop its space
technology.
In a commentary published on Monday and titled "peaceful space
programmes are sovereign countries' legitimate rights", the daily said
Pyongyang's satellite launches "absolutely correspond" with
international laws concerning space development.
Pyongyang launched their Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite in February 2016, which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test.
A spokesman for the South Korean military joint chiefs of staff said there was "nothing out of ordinary at this moment" .
At a UN General Assembly committee meeting in October, North Korea's
deputy UN ambassador Kim In-Ryong said his country has a 2016-2020 plan to
develop "practical satellites that can contribute to the economic
development and improvement of the people's living".
He stressed North Korea's right to produce and launch satellites
"will not be changed just because the US denies it".
North Korea is believed to have successfully put a satellite into orbit
in December 2012 after years of failures dating back to 1998 when it launched a
pilot satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-1.
Earlier this month, the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaia Gazeta quoted a
Russian military expert, Vladimir Khrustalev, as saying that North Korea was
expected to launch two satellites — an Earth exploration satellite and a
communications satellite — in the near future.
Khrustalev made the remark after returning from his week-long trip to
North Korea in mid-November when he met with representatives of the country's
National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA), the Russian daily said.
Tensions have soared as the isolated regime has staged a series of
atomic and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests — most recently on
November 29.
News source :AFP
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