Seoul, U.S. weigh missile defense system in response to N. Korean launch; China, Russia object

Luke Skywalker · Feb 7, 2016

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[h=4]Seoul, U.S. weigh missile defense system in response to N. Korean launch[/h]Seoul, Washington discussing deployment of an anti-missile system in wake of North Korean launch as UN Security Council meets

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North Korea launched a long-range rocket Sunday despite international warnings. The U.S., South Korea and Japan have all condemned the launch. Newslook

People watch a TV screen showing a breaking news on North Korea's long-range rocket launch at Seoul Station on Sunday in Seoul, South Korea.(Photo: Han Myung-Gu, Getty Images)

TOKYO — International reaction to North Korea's launch of a long-range missile intensified Sunday as the United Nations Security Council planned to hold an emergency session,*and China and Russia objected*to discussions between the U.S. and South Korea over*possible deployment of a missile defense system.
Yoo Jeh Seung, head of defense planning for South Korean Defense Ministry, told reporters that Seoul and Washington will discuss deploying the THAAD missile system in response to North Korea's "provocation," CNN reported. THAAD is an acronoym for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.
"The Republic of Korea and the U.S. assesses that North Korea's nuclear test and its long-range missile test is a severe threat against peace and stability of Republic of Korea and Asia Pacific Region," Yoo said.
China, which maintains close ties with North Korea, immediately said it was "deeply concerned" that deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea in response to the North Korean launch would only escalate tensions, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese state news agency.
The Russian ambassador to South Korea, Alexander Timonin, also expressed opposition to *the ant-missile defense system discussion, Xinhua reported
North Korea's launch, which was quickly condemned by the United States and its allies in the region, is widely believed to be a test of a new missile system that could reach as far as the United States, and comes only weeks after North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear weapons test. Both are banned by U.N. resolutions.
North Korean state television said in a special broadcast Sunday that it had placed an observation satellite into orbit. However, U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii said it had “detected and tracked today what we assess was a North Korean missile.” *South Korea's National Intelligence Service believes the payload of the satellite launched into orbit is about twice that of the 220-pound satellite North Korea launched into orbit in 2012, according to Associated Press.The estimated range of the missile is 3,400 miles. The distance from North Korea to the west coast of the United States is 5,800 miles.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Sunday's test*"a major provocation" that threatens the security of the region and the United States and said the U.S. would work with members of the U.N. Security Council on "significant measures" to hold North Korea to account for the launch.
USA TODAY
North Korea fires rocket seen as covert missile test

National Security Adviser*Susan Rice condemned the test*in a statement, saying*it "represents yet another destabilizing and provocative action” and “a serious threat to our interests.”
Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the launch was “intolerable” and a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.*Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Abe had directed the government to consider expanding current sanctions against North Korea.
U.S. forces tracked the missile and at no time did it pose a threat to the United States or its allies, Pacific Command said in a statement Sunday.
North Korean television said the launch was ordered by leader Kim Jong Un and that the country would continue to launch satellites in the future.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense said the launch took place at 9:31 a.m. local time. It said the missile separated into five segments before passing over Japan’s southwest island chain, with the final segment landing the western Pacific Ocean about*1,242 miles*south of the island of Okinawa.
Japan had deployed Patriot anti-ballistic missile systems and three warships equipped for missile defenses prior to the test but did not attempt to shoot down the missile or debris on Sunday, according to the defense ministry.
It is the first test of long-range missile technology by North Korea since December 2012. Under U.N. Security Council resolutions, the country is banned from testing long-range missiles or nuclear weapons.
Japan’s Kyodo News Service reported that China had expressed “regret” over the launch.
Abe ordered his government to quickly analyze the launch and provide information to the nation.
North Korea tested what it said was a hydrogen bomb in early January.
International governments worry nuclear tests and long-range missile launches signal Pyongyang is getting closer to creating a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on an intercontinental missile capable of reaching targets as far away as the U.S. West Coast.
"We absolutely cannot allow this," Abe told reporters at the prime minister's residence, according to The Associated Press. "We will take action to totally protect the safety and well-being of our people."
The United States, Japan and South Korea immediately requested an emergency meeting of the UN security council to discuss the launch, council diplomats told Reuters. The meeting was likely to take place on Sunday in New York.
The North's move came less than a day after the reclusive nation moved up the window for its planned launch to Feb. 7-14 from Feb. 8-25. No reason was given for the change.
While the North claims such efforts are a benign attempt to develop the capability for putting satellites into space, outside governments say it is a cover for testing ballistic missiles. That move constitutes yet another major violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning Pyongyang from carrying out any nuclear or ballistic missile tests.
Recent commercial satellite imagery analyzed by U.S. researchers showed tanker trucks at the launch pad at North Korea's Sohae facility, which likely indicates the filling of fuel and oxidizer tanks in preparation for the launch, The Associated Press reported.
North Korea tested nuclear explosive devices in 2006, 2009 and 2013, and claimed it successfully delivered a satellite into orbit in December 2012, the last time it launched a long-range rocket.
South Korean analysts speculated the secretive North Korean leadership, which is sensitive to symbolic gestures, was trying to pull off the launch ahead of Feb. 16, the birthday of late dictator Kim Jong Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong Un.
Ahead of the launch, the South Korean defense ministry said Seoul and the U.S. deployed key military assets, including the South's Aegis-equipped destroyers and radar spy planes, to track the North Korean rocket after its launch. The U.S. stations more than 28,000 troops in the South as a buttress against North Korean aggression.
On Friday, President Obama spoke by phone with President Xi Jinping of China, North Korea's only major ally, and the two sides agreed a launch would represent a "provocative and destabilizing action," the White House said.
The two leaders said they would coordinate their responses to Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and would not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapon state.
"The leaders emphasized the importance of a strong and united international response to North Korea's provocations, including through an impactful U.N. Security Council Resolution," the White House said.
China, however, is unlikely to join any*call by the U.S. and South Korea to tighten sanctions against North Korea. Beijing worries a strong economic move against North Korea might provoke a regime collapse and send refugees streaming across the border, analysts say. China is responsible for about 70% of the North's trade volume, according to South Korean estimates.

A picture released by the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling North Korean Workers Party, on Sept. 8, 2015, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center front, and Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, second from right, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and first vice-president of the Council of State, watching an art performance by the Moranbong Band and the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 7, 2015. Bermudez led a Cuban delegation to North Korea to mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between North Korea and Cuba. * Rodong Sinmun, European Pressphoto Agency

Men and women pump their fists in the air and chant "defend!" as they carry propaganda slogans calling for reunification of their country during the "Pyongyang Mass Rally on the Day of the Struggle Against the U.S.," attended by approximately 100,000 North Koreans to mark the 65th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War at the Kim Il Sung stadium, Thursday, June 25, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. The month of June in North Korea is known as the "Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism Month" and it's a time for North Koreans to swarm to war museums, mobilize for gatherings denouncing the evils of the United States and join in a general, nationwide whipping up of the anti-American sentiment.* Wong Maye-E, AP

North Koreans gather in front of a portrait of their late leader Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, right, paying respects to their late leader Kim Jong Il, to mark the third anniversary of his death, Wednesday Dec. 17 at Pyong Chon District in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea marked the end of a three-year mourning period for the late leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday, opening the way for his son, Kim Jong Un, to put a more personal stamp on the way the country is run. * Kim Kwang Hyon, AP

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Seoul, U.S. weigh missile defense system in response to N. Korean launch; China, Russia object

Luke Skywalker

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