VARIOUS: North Korea's neighbours say rocket postponement is not enough

Record ID: 492039

  • Title: VARIOUS: North Korea's neighbours say rocket postponement is not enough
  • Date: 9th December 2012
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (DECEMBER 9, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC IN SEOUL STREETS ELECTRONIC NEWS BULLETIN READING IN KOREAN, "NORTH KOREA IS EXAMINING TO READJUST THE TIME OF ROCKET LAUNCH, WITH TECHNICAL PROBLEM POSSIBLY." PEOPLE IN STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 60-YEAR-OLD CHOI YONG-HO SAYING: "Delaying the launch is not good enough. I want them to stop it permanently for the peace of the peninsula and the world and their relations with the international community." (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 65-YEAR-OLD SEO BOK-SEONG SAYING: "The current situation is -- we will have a big event, the presidential election, soon. So (the rocket launch plan) made us feel uneasy. Now it's good to hear the news (delay of the rocket launch). I feel relieved." TOKYO, JAPAN (DECEMBER 9, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ON TOKYO STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 24-YEAR-OLD WAITRESS CHIHIRO KOUNO SAYING: "I thought from the beginning that it's a bluff because I believe they don't have such technology." MORE OF PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) BUSINESSMAN, MAMORU OSAKABE SAYING: "Whether it was a technical problem of the rocket itself or pressure from China, we don't know the exact reason of the postponement and thus the possibility that they will soon resume the launch process still remains. I hope they will permanently stop such provocations," MORE OF PEOPLE ON STREET
  • Embargoed: 24th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Defence / Military,Science,Space
  • Reuters ID: LVA8IY7LNE273EXK5IM82COL1TVR
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: North Korea says planned rocket launch might be postponed, neighbouring countries say postponement is not enough.

    North Korea said late on Saturday (December 8) it was seriously considering postponing the dates for its planned rocket launch, but residents of neighbouring countries said just postponing was not enough.
    The news of the delay was broadcast on Chinese state television on Sunday (December 9).
    "According to KCNA's report on the 9th, due to some problems faced in the final stages, North Korea is considering to alter the launch time of the Shining Star 3 satellite," said a CCTV news reader on the morning news bulletin.
    North Korean state news agency KCNA gave no reasons for delaying the plan which has been widely condemned by countries including Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
    China, the North's only major diplomatic ally, has expressed "deep concern" it could raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
    People in Seoul on Sunday (December 9) said they felt a little easier knowing the launch was not imminent, but stressed that postponing was not enough.
    "Delaying the launch is not good enough. I want them to stop it permanently for the peace of the peninsula and the world and their relations with the international community," said Choi Yong-ho, 60.
    "The current situation is -- we will have a big event, the presidential election, soon. So (the rocket launch plan) made us feel uneasy. Now it's good to hear the news (delay of the rocket launch). I feel relieved," said Choi Yong-ho, 60.
    South Korean presidential elections are due to be held on December 19.
    North Korea, which planned to launch the rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, is banned from carrying out any missile or nuclear related tests by United Nations resolutions imposed in 2006 and 2009 after it conducted nuclear tests.
    The latest launch had been scheduled to take place around the first anniversary of the death of North Korea's former leader Kim Jong-il but would also have coincided with December elections in Japan and South Korea. Japan goes to poll on December 16.
    An earlier launch attempt ended in failure in April when the mission was aborted just a few minutes into its flight.
    "I thought from the beginning that it's a bluff because I believe they don't have such technology," said 24-year-old waitress Chihiro Kouno in Tokyo.
    The rocket was scheduled to pass between the Korean Peninsula and China, with a second stage splashing down off the Philippines before launching the satellite into orbit.
    Critics say North Korea's rocket programme is aimed at developing a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
    "Whether it was a technical problem of the rocket itself or pressure from China, we don't know the exact reason of the postponement and thus the possibility that they will soon resume the launch process still remains. I hope they will permanently stop such provocations," said businessman Mamoru Osakabe.
    The Japanese government has deployed it's land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC3) interceptors to the southern Japanese Okinawa islands as well as the backyard of the Defence Ministry in Tokyo ahead of a North Korean rocket launch.
    Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said the government would consider intercepting the rocket if it goes off course, the same stance the government took earlier in the year.
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