SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea fired a rocket over Japan on Sunday, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect the launch was cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. President Barack Obama said the move threatens the security of nations “near and far.”
Liftoff took place at 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean and U.S. governments said. The multistage rocket hurtled toward the Pacific, reaching Japanese airspace within seven minutes, but no debris appeared to hit its territory, officials in Tokyo said.
Four hours after the launch, North Korea declared it a success. An experimental communications satellite reached outer space in just over nine minutes and is orbiting Earth, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said from Pyongyang.
“The satellite is transmitting the melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans ‘Song of Gen. Kim Il Sung’ and ‘Song of Gen. Kim Jong Il‘ as well as measurement data back to Earth,” it said, referring to the country’s late founder and his son, its current leader.
But the U.S. military said “no object entered orbit.” North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials said in a statement that the first stage of the rocket fell into the waters between Korea and Japan, while the two other stages, and its payload, landed in the Pacific Ocean.
The launch was a bold act of defiance against Obama, Japanese leader Taro Aso, Hu Jintao of China and others who pressed North Korea in the days leading up to liftoff to cancel a move they said would threaten peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
for more information…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_missile
Popularity: 9% [?]
Related posts:
