VOA: World Reacts to Failed North Korea Rocket Launch Apr 13, 2012 – VOA News
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and many other international leaders have
condemned North Korea's launch of a long-range missile, even though the test
was a failure. The rocket fell into the sea about one minute after liftoff.
North Korea's official news agency acknowledged the missile broke apart,
preventing its cargo – described as a weather satellite – from
reaching Earth orbit.
Pyongyang defied international protests by going ahead with the launch
despite the widespread belief that the operation actually was a test of a
long-range ballistic missile that could carry warheads just as easily as
satellites. The three-stage rocket malfunctioned after the first stage
exhausted its fuel and fell away, and the assembly plunged into the Yellow
Sea without hitting land or striking any of the many vessels observing the
test from international waters.
VOA's reporter in Pyongyang said despite being given tours of the satellite
control center and launch pad earlier in the week, foreign reporters were not
notified about the launch, even after it took place. And North Korean
officials failed to meet with reporters afterward despite an expected news
conference.
Mr. Ban said North Korea's actions were “deplorable,” going
against the “firm and unanimous stance of the international
community.” He also said such a test of a missile with possible
military applications was a violation of U.N. resolutions.
In Washington, White House press secretary Jay Carney said North Korea's
action was a threat to regional security, and a sign that Pyongyang prefers
“wasting its money on weapons and propaganda displays while the North
Korean people go hungry.”
The U.S. has canceled plans to send additional food aid to North Korea, and
considers that sanctions could be tightened even more if Pyongyang conducts
“further provocative actions.”
Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said the rocket appeared to have
reached a height of 120 kilometers above the sea before it split apart.
“We have received information that there was some sort of object
launched. It appears to have flown for over a minute and then fallen into the
ocean. There has been absolutely no effect on our territory.''
South Korean naval vessels as well as U.S., Russian and Chinese ships are in
the launch zone searching for rocket debris.
Many members of the international community spoke out against North Korea's
operation, which apparently was timed to coincide with the birth centenary of
the communist state's founder, Kim Il Sung. The European Union, the Group of
Eight industrialized nations, Russia, Germany and Britain agreed the rocket
launch should not have taken place. And North Korea's neighboring states
South Korea, China and Japan all condemned the action.
The U.N. Security Council was meeting Friday to discuss the issue.
While the world reacted to the failed launch, North Korea's new leader Kim
Jong Un presided over a rally celebrating the lives of North Korea's two
previous leaders: his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung. During
the festivities in central Pyongyang he unveiled statues of both men and
assumed new titles that complete the transfer of state, military, and party
power from his dictator father to himself. As the statues were unveiled,
young women stationed near the statues began to weep.
Military forces in South Korea and Japan remain on high alert for what they
say could be more provocative actions by North Korea during the month of
celebrations honoring Kim Il Sung.
U.S. officials have said Pyongyang might have been planning to follow the
launch with what would be its third underground test of a nuclear warhead.
Satellite intelligence photographs made available to VOA and other news
organizations this week show evidence of preparations for such a test.
North Korea's launch plan also has derailed a recent agreement with the U.S.
under which Pyongyang agreed to suspend all of its nuclear-weapons and
missile programs, in return for 240,000 tons of badly needed food aid.
