North Korea has announced that it will try to launch a long-range rocket in mid-December as critics claim it is developing technology to fire nuclear missiles.
North Korea is to conduct its second attempted long-range rocket launch of 2012 in a test that will be condemned by the West and Asian neighbours as violating the United Nations ban on its nuclear and missile programmes.
The mid-December launch date, announced by Pyongyang on Saturday, signals a new flexing of muscles by Kim Jong-un, the country’s young leader, for the first anniversary of the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
North Korea’s rocket launch in April raised international tensions, but the misfire at blast-off was a humiliating blow to the regime and its fresh-faced dictator.
The US, Europe and neighbours such as South Korea and Japan say that a successful launch would bring the unstable communist state close to developing long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear payloads.
Any North Korean "satellite" launch would be a "highly procative act" and a threat to regional peace and security, a US State department official said.
The new launch, set for Dec 10-22, will heighten already strained tensions with Washington and Seoul as the United States prepares for Barack Obama's second term and South Korea holds its own presidential election on Dec 19.
Western intelligence agencies had been monitoring satellite imagery of increased activity at the North’s rocket launch pad in recent days.
The North’s space agency has now confirmed suspicions that the country was preparing another launch, saying its scientists have "analysed the mistakes" from April and improved the precision of the rocketry.
Pyongyang insists that it is launching the the Unha rocket to send a Kwangmyongsong observation satellite into space for civilian purposes.
But the same technology could be used for long-range missiles by North Korea, which has developed nuclear weapons in violation of UN bans.
North Korea already has a short- and medium-range missile capability, but it has consistently encountered technological setbacks in its long-range programme.
In South Korea, the latest announcement was seen as a provocation designed to influence voters in the Dec 19th election that pits that pits a supporter of closer engagement with Pyongyang against the daughter of South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee.
And the North, which has a long record of violating international weapons ban and then seeking concessions, may also hope to use the rocket launch as a negotiating weapon as Mr Obama assembles a new national security team for his second term in office.
In a country which puts great emphasis of the symbolism of anniversaries, 2012 is the centennial of the birth of national founder Kim Il Sung, grandfather of the current leader. And the second dictator died last December, an anniversary that is scheduled to be marked with great fanfare.
"North Korea appears to be under pressure to redeem its April launch failure before the year of the 'strong, prosperous and great nation' ends," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul.
Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that the move was a "grave provocation". Japan's Kyodo news agency said that Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, had ordered ministries to be on alert for the launch.
The North's announcement comes two days after South Korea cancelled what would have been the launch of its first satellite from its own territory. Scientists in Seoul cited technical difficulties.
North Korea's missile and nuclear programs will be a challenge for Mr Obama in his second term and for the incoming South Korean leader. Washington's most recent attempt to negotiate a freeze of the North's nuclear programme and a test moratorium in exchange for food aid collapsed with the April launch.
The Korean peninsula remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Washington stations nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea as a buttress against any North Korean aggression. Tens of thousands more are in nearby Japan.
North Korea is to conduct its second attempted long-range rocket launch of 2012 in a test that will be condemned by the West and Asian neighbours as violating the United Nations ban on its nuclear and missile programmes.
The mid-December launch date, announced by Pyongyang on Saturday, signals a new flexing of muscles by Kim Jong-un, the country’s young leader, for the first anniversary of the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
North Korea’s rocket launch in April raised international tensions, but the misfire at blast-off was a humiliating blow to the regime and its fresh-faced dictator.
The US, Europe and neighbours such as South Korea and Japan say that a successful launch would bring the unstable communist state close to developing long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear payloads.
Any North Korean "satellite" launch would be a "highly procative act" and a threat to regional peace and security, a US State department official said.
The new launch, set for Dec 10-22, will heighten already strained tensions with Washington and Seoul as the United States prepares for Barack Obama's second term and South Korea holds its own presidential election on Dec 19.
Western intelligence agencies had been monitoring satellite imagery of increased activity at the North’s rocket launch pad in recent days.
The North’s space agency has now confirmed suspicions that the country was preparing another launch, saying its scientists have "analysed the mistakes" from April and improved the precision of the rocketry.
Pyongyang insists that it is launching the the Unha rocket to send a Kwangmyongsong observation satellite into space for civilian purposes.
But the same technology could be used for long-range missiles by North Korea, which has developed nuclear weapons in violation of UN bans.
North Korea already has a short- and medium-range missile capability, but it has consistently encountered technological setbacks in its long-range programme.
In South Korea, the latest announcement was seen as a provocation designed to influence voters in the Dec 19th election that pits that pits a supporter of closer engagement with Pyongyang against the daughter of South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee.
And the North, which has a long record of violating international weapons ban and then seeking concessions, may also hope to use the rocket launch as a negotiating weapon as Mr Obama assembles a new national security team for his second term in office.
In a country which puts great emphasis of the symbolism of anniversaries, 2012 is the centennial of the birth of national founder Kim Il Sung, grandfather of the current leader. And the second dictator died last December, an anniversary that is scheduled to be marked with great fanfare.
"North Korea appears to be under pressure to redeem its April launch failure before the year of the 'strong, prosperous and great nation' ends," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul.
Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that the move was a "grave provocation". Japan's Kyodo news agency said that Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, had ordered ministries to be on alert for the launch.
The North's announcement comes two days after South Korea cancelled what would have been the launch of its first satellite from its own territory. Scientists in Seoul cited technical difficulties.
North Korea's missile and nuclear programs will be a challenge for Mr Obama in his second term and for the incoming South Korean leader. Washington's most recent attempt to negotiate a freeze of the North's nuclear programme and a test moratorium in exchange for food aid collapsed with the April launch.
The Korean peninsula remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Washington stations nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea as a buttress against any North Korean aggression. Tens of thousands more are in nearby Japan.
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