North Korea, Defying Warnings, Prepares to Launch Long-Range Rocket
By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL, South Korea — In a new dare to the United States and its allies, North Korea has notified the United Nations agency responsible for navigation safety that it is planning to launch a long-range rocket this month to put a satellite into orbit.

The agency, the International Maritime Organization, said Tuesday that it had received a notification from the North Korean authorities of a multistage rocket launch between the hours of 7 a.m. and noon local time, on an as-yet unspecified day between Feb. 8 and 25. An agency spokeswoman, Natasha Brown, said North Korea’s notification described the payload as an Earth observation satellite it called Kwangmyongsong, which translates as Lodestar.

If the launch goes as planned, the notification said, the rocket’s first stage will fall in waters off the west coast of South Korea, and the second stage in waters east of the Philippines.

The notification came after warnings to North Korea advising against a launch from the United States and allied nations, which consider such a step a cover for developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver a nuclear bomb. Under a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions, North Korea is barred from developing nuclear weapons or ballistic missile technologies.

The United States, which has been helping draft a new Security Council resolution aimed at penalizing North Korea since its most recent nuclear test nearly a month ago, reacted angrily to news of a missile launch.

“This latest announcement further underscores the need for the international community to send the North Koreans a swift, firm message that its disregard — that their disregard for U.N. Security Council obligations will not be tolerated,” said the State Department spokesman, John Kirby.

In Seoul, Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of the presidential office of national security, warned that North Korea would have to pay “a harsh price” if it did not cancel the launch. He called the North Korean plan a “direct challenge to the international community.”

The North’s announcement also complicated the mission of a senior Chinese envoy, Wu Dawei, who arrived in Pyongyang on the same day it was made. Beijing has been insisting on patience and dialogue as better ways to resolve disputes with the North.

North Korea had notified the International Maritime Organization of some earlier rocket tests.

Another United Nations agency, the International Telecommunication Union, said Tuesday that it also had been notified by the North Koreans of an impending launch, but without specifying a date range. An agency spokesman, Sanjay Acharya, said it had been advised by Kim Kwang-chol, the North Korean minister of posts and telecommunications, that the satellite was designed to function for four years.

North Korea asserts that its rocket program is peaceful, intended to launch satellites to gather data for weather forecasting and for other scientific purposes. But after the country put a Kwangmyongsong satellite into orbit by using its Unha-3 rocket in December 2012, the United States worried that in the process, the North was also moving toward acquiring the ability to deliver a nuclear warhead on a long-range ballistic missile.

That Unha-3, a three-stage rocket, blasted off from the Tongchang-ri launching site near the country’s northwestern border with China. American and South Korean officials have been monitoring the site for signs of preparations for another rocket launch, especially after North Korea conducted the last nuclear test, its fourth, on Jan. 6.

The United States and its allies are working to muster international support for a new Security Council resolution imposing another round of sanctions against the North. They have expressed concern that the North might attempt a long-range rocket test in retaliation.

In a report published last Thursday on 38 North, a United States website specializing in North Korea, Jack Liu, an expert on North Korea’s rocket program, said it appeared to be “in the early stages of preparation for launching a space launch vehicle.” He used recent satellite images of the site for his analysis.

South Korean intelligence officials said that in its 2012 rocket launch, North Korea was actually testing a design for a ballistic missile that could eventually fly more than 6,200 miles with a warhead of about 1,100 to 1,300 pounds, putting the West Coast of the United States within range.

North Korea recently renovated its Tongchang-ri site to be able to launch a rocket more powerful than any tested so far.

North Korea is preparing to celebrate the Feb. 16 birthday of Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader, Kim Jong-un, and a large congress of the ruling Workers’ Party in May. Some analysts say that Mr. Kim wanted to show off advances in his nuclear and long-range missile programs ahead of those events.

北韓要發射衛星？ 疑實際為長程飛彈

北韓準備在8日至25日之間發射人造衛星，但外界認為，北韓想藉發射衛星之名試射長程飛彈。南韓、日本和美國政府立刻警告，北韓如果一意孤行，將付出慘痛代價。

北韓2日向國際海事組織（IMO）和國際電信聯盟（ITU）等通報，將於8日至25日發射觀測地球的人造衛星「光明星」，時段為台灣時間上午6時半到11時半。本月16日是北韓領袖金正恩父親金正日的冥誕。

火箭第一節推進器預計落在朝鮮半島西側黃海，第二節預計落在菲律賓東方太平洋。

南韓媒體指出，北韓說發射人造衛星，其實可能是發射長程飛彈。北韓曾在2012年12月在東倉里發射搭載人造衛星的長程火箭「銀河3號」。

從通報的推進器預計落點研判，北韓這次使用的火箭仍是銀河3號。

南韓國家安保室第一次長趙太庸今天表示，國際正在討論北韓1月第四次核子試爆的制裁措施，北韓通報發射計畫是正面挑戰國際社會，北韓必須理解，利用彈道飛彈技術進行的任何發射行為都嚴重違反聯合國安理會相關決議。

趙太庸表示，北韓發射長程飛彈將對朝鮮半島以及國際社會的和平與穩定構成嚴重威脅，將付出慘痛代價。

白宮發言人厄尼思特表示：「我確信國際社會會視北韓此舉為另一項不負責任的挑釁，且明顯違背他們的國際義務。」

美國主管東亞事務助理國務卿羅素表示，北韓發射行動將使聯合國「更有理由」對北韓採取更嚴厲的制裁。

日本政府表示，北韓火箭推進器若飛越領空，將予以擊落。

北韓核子問題六方會談的中國大陸首席代表武大偉2日閃電訪問北韓。有分析指出，武大偉突然訪問平壤，似乎是為阻止北韓發射長程飛彈。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/world/asia/north-korea-defying-warnings-prepares-long-range-rocket-launch.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/asia-pacific/20160203/c03nkorea/zh-hant/

2016-02-03．聯合晚報．A8．國際焦點．國際新聞組