North Korea rocket launch...

[boomerang]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 982874.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

North Korea has launched a rocket, despite international appeals not to go ahead.

Officials from Japan, South Korea and the US confirmed lift-off at 0230 GMT. The rocket appeared to have passed over Japan to the Pacific, Tokyo said.

[ClarkLZeuss]

I wish that Japan had blown it out of the sky, since it passed over their airspace. I know that we would have, had any rocket (weapon or satellite) fired by another country done so. Now comes the really interesting part: where we find out what the payload was and what the intended target was. I just pray that our president will stand up to this dictator and give him some real consequences to his belligerence.

[stevie_d_64]

It was either going to be very clear (which it wasn't) that the rocket would be shot down, or part(s) of it coming down near Japan...

Or,

We'd watch it fly and see how well they are doing on the development of their new export model...

I heard it mentioned that it was to be a 2000km capable rocket...

It only made it 1270km...Came up a bit short looks like...Kimmee is not too happy and is throwing a temper tantrum...So those involved with this test will be executed till dead, putting their whole program back a few years till the next group of steely eyed wrocket men pony up to try it again...

On a serious note...I have not seen anything yet reported to see if anything was actually orbited...If so, the performance of the launch vehicle may tell us that the orbit, if attained, will not be very stable...It's a possibility that has not been discussed by anyone to my knowledge...

I'm still peeved about the release of ships movement to the media...That I will never forget...Or forgive...

[Right2Carry]

Defiant N Korea launches rocket

North Korea's neighbours have strongly condemned the rocket launch
North Korea has defied international warnings and gone ahead with a controversial rocket launch.

State media said a satellite had been put into orbit and was transmitting data and revolutionary songs.

But there has been no independent confirmation so far. The US, Japan and South Korea suspect the launch was a cover for a long-range missile test.

They strongly condemned the launch. The US president told Pyongyang to "refrain from further provocative actions".

"North Korea broke the rules once more by testing a rocket that could be used for a long-range missile," Mr Obama told a crowd in the Czech capital, Prague.

"This provocation underscores the need for action - not just this afternoon at the UN Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons."


Obama condemns North Korea launch
Japan called the move "extremely regrettable", while South Korea said it constituted a clear breach of a United Nations resolution.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said North Korea's actions were not conducive to regional stability, as did the European Union.

China and Russia both called on all sides to act with restraint, while the UK urged North Korea to immediately halt all missile-related activity.

The UN Security Council has approved a Japanese request for an emergency session.

Washington, Tokyo and Seoul regard the launch as a clear violation of Security Council resolution 1718 adopted in October 2006, which bans North Korea from carrying out ballistic missile activity.

No intercept

North Korea announced several weeks ago that it planned to send what it called an "experimental communications satellite" into space from the Musudan-ri launch site in the north-east.

The three-stage rocket blasted off just before midday local time, within a pre-announced launch window.

North Korea's missile programme
Reaction to North Korea launch
It flew over Japan towards the Pacific, with two booster stages dropping into the ocean to the east and west of Japan, Tokyo said.

Japan said it had not tried to intercept the rocket. It had indicated it would do so if the rocket threatened its territory.

North Korea says the launch is part of what it calls peaceful space development.

"Our scientists and engineers have succeeded in sending satellite 'Kwangmyongsong-2' into orbit by way of carrier rocket 'Unha-2'," state news agency KCNA reported.

It added that it was transmitting data and the "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il" - references to the late founder of North Korea and his son, the current leader.

Richard, Kobe, JapanIn a previous satellite launch attempt in 1998, North Korea said it was sending up a device that would orbit the world transmitting revolutionary melodies.

It claimed this was also successful but the launch is believed to have been a failure as no trace of the satellite was ever found.

Earlier on Sunday, an unidentified South Korean official told Yonhap news agency that the rocket did appear to be carrying a satellite.

If confirmed, North Korea will see this as a major propaganda victory, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul.

A White House spokesman said there would be an assessment by defence and intelligence officials later in the day.

US within range?

But of more concern to Pyongyang's neighbours is the potential military use of the launch vehicle, our correspondent says.

They believe the real aim of the launch was to test long-range missile technology; specifically the Taepodong-2.

They believe it could put parts of the US within the communist nation's military reach.

North Korea first tested a Taepodong-2 in July 2006. It failed less than a minute after lift-off.

Three months later, Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test.

International talks involving the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China on an aid-for-nuclear disarmament deal are currently stalled.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7982874.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[longhorn_92]

It was either going to be very clear (which it wasn't) that the rocket would be shot down, or part(s) of it coming down near Japan...

Or,

We'd watch it fly and see how well they are doing on the development of their new export model...

I heard it mentioned that it was to be a 2000km capable rocket...

So would other countries...such as Iran (possible buyer).

[stevie_d_64]

It's a buyers market...

And it was certainly a successful demonstration of a delivery vehicle...

700 mile range...It might go father, but I would hate to live within that envelop...

Make you wonder how much someone will tolerate getting poked in the chest, before the poker becomes the pokee...

[ClarkLZeuss]

North Korea said it was sending up a device that would orbit the world transmitting revolutionary melodies.

They forgot to mention its solar-powered popcorn machine and how it's passing out candy and presents to all the good communist children all over the world.

[Samurai Blur]

I find it funny how NK continues to insist they have successfully delivered a satellite into orbit while the rest of the "smarter" nations know the rocket failed and just fell into the ocean.

It's not just NK that is saying that. Russia and China also reported it. As far as NK's reason for reporting it... Man, I don't even know where to start to describe these people. My girlfriend is from South Korea and with all the time I have spent in Korea studying into the history and culture, it seems to me that the "Great Leader" is just spreading it around to well up the "screw the rest of the world" philosophy that NK has built for itself. We're talking about a nation that is starving to death and still thinks it's more powerful than "the imperial American dictatorship."
I've spoken with people who escaped NK (and even heard a public speech from a woman who managed to defect), and there is no way for me to describe how different of a level they are on in terms of the way they view the world, but to them it's VERY important to have this "successful launch." Even though the launch failed, the only media they get is their own (you can even get executed if caught with a cell phone, and there is NO internet) so basically things like this are used to boost the moral of NK troops so that they can be proud of how great their leader says the nation is.
This is a simple tactic to keep a nation of starving, enslaved people hyped up with enough moral to not want to just give up and die.

In case there is someone who hasn't seen this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVBaIrIb-Kc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The guy at the end is speaking a NK dialect and says something like "the communications are good," but it cuts out and doesn't seem to be a complete sentence.
I know a lot of people who like to joke about stuff like this, but I really don't think it's a joke. Kim Jung Il is seriously a mad man, and I don't think we should take him as lightly as we do. I worry that he will come across the border one day while I'm visiting Seoul (or worse, when I move there to teach English after I finish school).