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SEOUL -- North Korea launched a multistage rocket Sunday in defiance of international pressure. The rocket passed safely over Japan and the Pacific Ocean but it wasn't immediately clear whether it reached space as North Korea said it intended -- or was a long-range missile as other countries feared.
About four hours after the launch, North Korea's state-run news agency formally announced that the rocket had put a satellite, called the Kwangmyongsong-2, into orbit and said it was "rotating normally." There was no outside confirmation of that, though.
Officials in Japan, South Korea and the U.S. swiftly condemned the action. Just 90 minutes after the launch, the United Nations Security Council announced it would meet in emergency session in New York Sunday afternoon to discuss penalizing North Korea for violating sanctions with the launch.
In a statement, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations."
The rocket lifted off shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time from a military site in a rural area called Musudan-ri, near the town of Hwadae, on the country's northeast coast, then arced over the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean.
The rocket is the newest step in a program of advanced-weapons development that North Korea's authoritarian government uses to maintain power and force payments from other countries.
While North Korea said the rocket was designed to take a satellite to space, outside analysts believe it uses the same technology as a long-range missile Pyongyang has been trying to build for years -- and failed to launch successfully in two previous attempts.
The long-range missile is designed to go far enough to reach the west coast of the U.S. or parts of western Europe from North Korea. North Korea isn't believed to have reached the capability to arm such a missile, however. Even so, military analysts believe the country sought to develop the long-range missile to sell it to other countries as well as use it itself.
North Korea waited for four hours to announce the launch, but authorities in Japan provided virtually a real-time description of it. Its first stage fell into the sea between North Korea and Japan seven minutes after the launch. Its second stage fell into the Pacific Ocean on the other side of Japan about six minutes later.
For the U.S., the launch presents Mr. Obama's new administration with its first test of whether it can rally the international community to punish a rogue regime. The North's neighbors Japan and South Korea quickly criticized the launch, but China -- its biggest trade partner and political benefactor -- urged "calm and restraint" afterward.
North Korea's state-run media has warned that if the U.N. penalizes the launch with new sanctions, Pyongyang would withdraw from the so-called six-party talks, the U.S.'s preferred forum to negotiate the scrapping of North Korea's weapons program.
A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman called the launch "extremely regrettable" and immediately pushed for new U.N. sanctions. In his statement, Mr. Obama added, "I urge North Korea to abide fully by the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and to refrain from further provocative actions."
China didn't oppose U.N. sanctions imposed after North Korea's last missile launch in 2006. But events since then have caused China to rethink its policy, says Yan Xuetong, head of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. North Korea responded to the sanctions with an underground nuclear test and turned to Russia for support.
"China now sees that economic sanctions will only undermine its influence on North Korea, not strengthen it," says Mr. Yan. "China has readjusted its policy and I don't think it will support sanctions."
South Korea's foreign ministry, in a reaction statement, noted that the impoverished North "spent an enormous amount of money that could resolve North's chronic food shortage" on the rocket. Some analysts estimate the rocket cost $500 million to develop.
Outside military and intelligence officials in mid-January first observed preparations at North Korea's launch site via satellite photography. Since mid February, North Korea said it was preparing to launch a communications satellite and it later announced a launch plan for the April 4-8 period.
In contrast to the North's previous launches of long-range missiles in 1998 and 2006, missile-defense systems in the U.S. and Japan have improved to the level where they could credibly respond by shooting down the North Korean rocket.
The U.S. ruled out shooting down the projectile several weeks ago, however. Japanese officials said they would shoot if the rocket or debris from it started to fall on its territory. But no attempt to shoot down the North's rocket was made on Sunday.
On Saturday, the first day of that launch period, North Korea's state media issued a statement saying a launch was imminent. But the day passed with no activity and officials in other countries speculated bad weather hampered the launch.
China didn't oppose U.N. sanctions imposed after North Korea's last missile launch in 2006. But events since then have caused China to rethink its policy, says Yan Xuetong, head of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. North Korea responded to the sanctions with an underground nuclear test and turned to Russia for support.
"China now sees that economic sanctions will only undermine its influence on North Korea, not strengthen it," says Mr. Yan. "China has readjusted its policy and I don't think it will support sanctions."
South Korea's foreign ministry, in a reaction statement, noted that the impoverished North "spent an enormous amount of money that could resolve North's chronic food shortage" on the rocket. Some analysts estimate the rocket cost $500 million to develop.
Outside military and intelligence officials in mid-January first observed preparations at North Korea's launch site via satellite photography. Since mid February, North Korea said it was preparing to launch a communications satellite and it later announced a launch plan for the April 4-8 period.
In contrast to the North's previous launches of long-range missiles in 1998 and 2006, missile-defense systems in the U.S. and Japan have improved to the level where they could credibly respond by shooting down the North Korean rocket.
The U.S. ruled out shooting down the projectile several weeks ago, however. Japanese officials said they would shoot if the rocket or debris from it started to fall on its territory. But no attempt to shoot down the North's rocket was made on Sunday.
On Saturday, the first day of that launch period, North Korea's state media issued a statement saying a launch was imminent. But the day passed with no activity and officials in other countries speculated bad weather hampered the launch.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123889854918290025.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
About four hours after the launch, North Korea's state-run news agency formally announced that the rocket had put a satellite, called the Kwangmyongsong-2, into orbit and said it was "rotating normally." There was no outside confirmation of that, though.
Officials in Japan, South Korea and the U.S. swiftly condemned the action. Just 90 minutes after the launch, the United Nations Security Council announced it would meet in emergency session in New York Sunday afternoon to discuss penalizing North Korea for violating sanctions with the launch.
In a statement, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations."
The rocket lifted off shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time from a military site in a rural area called Musudan-ri, near the town of Hwadae, on the country's northeast coast, then arced over the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean.
The rocket is the newest step in a program of advanced-weapons development that North Korea's authoritarian government uses to maintain power and force payments from other countries.
While North Korea said the rocket was designed to take a satellite to space, outside analysts believe it uses the same technology as a long-range missile Pyongyang has been trying to build for years -- and failed to launch successfully in two previous attempts.
The long-range missile is designed to go far enough to reach the west coast of the U.S. or parts of western Europe from North Korea. North Korea isn't believed to have reached the capability to arm such a missile, however. Even so, military analysts believe the country sought to develop the long-range missile to sell it to other countries as well as use it itself.
North Korea waited for four hours to announce the launch, but authorities in Japan provided virtually a real-time description of it. Its first stage fell into the sea between North Korea and Japan seven minutes after the launch. Its second stage fell into the Pacific Ocean on the other side of Japan about six minutes later.
For the U.S., the launch presents Mr. Obama's new administration with its first test of whether it can rally the international community to punish a rogue regime. The North's neighbors Japan and South Korea quickly criticized the launch, but China -- its biggest trade partner and political benefactor -- urged "calm and restraint" afterward.
North Korea's state-run media has warned that if the U.N. penalizes the launch with new sanctions, Pyongyang would withdraw from the so-called six-party talks, the U.S.'s preferred forum to negotiate the scrapping of North Korea's weapons program.
A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman called the launch "extremely regrettable" and immediately pushed for new U.N. sanctions. In his statement, Mr. Obama added, "I urge North Korea to abide fully by the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and to refrain from further provocative actions."
China didn't oppose U.N. sanctions imposed after North Korea's last missile launch in 2006. But events since then have caused China to rethink its policy, says Yan Xuetong, head of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. North Korea responded to the sanctions with an underground nuclear test and turned to Russia for support.
"China now sees that economic sanctions will only undermine its influence on North Korea, not strengthen it," says Mr. Yan. "China has readjusted its policy and I don't think it will support sanctions."
South Korea's foreign ministry, in a reaction statement, noted that the impoverished North "spent an enormous amount of money that could resolve North's chronic food shortage" on the rocket. Some analysts estimate the rocket cost $500 million to develop.
Outside military and intelligence officials in mid-January first observed preparations at North Korea's launch site via satellite photography. Since mid February, North Korea said it was preparing to launch a communications satellite and it later announced a launch plan for the April 4-8 period.
In contrast to the North's previous launches of long-range missiles in 1998 and 2006, missile-defense systems in the U.S. and Japan have improved to the level where they could credibly respond by shooting down the North Korean rocket.
The U.S. ruled out shooting down the projectile several weeks ago, however. Japanese officials said they would shoot if the rocket or debris from it started to fall on its territory. But no attempt to shoot down the North's rocket was made on Sunday.
On Saturday, the first day of that launch period, North Korea's state media issued a statement saying a launch was imminent. But the day passed with no activity and officials in other countries speculated bad weather hampered the launch.
China didn't oppose U.N. sanctions imposed after North Korea's last missile launch in 2006. But events since then have caused China to rethink its policy, says Yan Xuetong, head of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. North Korea responded to the sanctions with an underground nuclear test and turned to Russia for support.
"China now sees that economic sanctions will only undermine its influence on North Korea, not strengthen it," says Mr. Yan. "China has readjusted its policy and I don't think it will support sanctions."
South Korea's foreign ministry, in a reaction statement, noted that the impoverished North "spent an enormous amount of money that could resolve North's chronic food shortage" on the rocket. Some analysts estimate the rocket cost $500 million to develop.
Outside military and intelligence officials in mid-January first observed preparations at North Korea's launch site via satellite photography. Since mid February, North Korea said it was preparing to launch a communications satellite and it later announced a launch plan for the April 4-8 period.
In contrast to the North's previous launches of long-range missiles in 1998 and 2006, missile-defense systems in the U.S. and Japan have improved to the level where they could credibly respond by shooting down the North Korean rocket.
The U.S. ruled out shooting down the projectile several weeks ago, however. Japanese officials said they would shoot if the rocket or debris from it started to fall on its territory. But no attempt to shoot down the North's rocket was made on Sunday.
On Saturday, the first day of that launch period, North Korea's state media issued a statement saying a launch was imminent. But the day passed with no activity and officials in other countries speculated bad weather hampered the launch.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123889854918290025.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
