SEOUL (AFP) — Some 100,000 North Koreans rallied on Wednesday to celebrate their country's rocket launch, state media said, as the UN agonised over whether it had staged a peaceful space shot or a provocative missile test.
Pyongyang's military separately warned Japan to stop sending warships to search for debris from Sunday's launch, calling this an act of espionage and an "intolerable military provocation."
The rally on Pyongyang's Kim Il-Sung Square came one day before a meeting of the communist state's new parliament, which will re-elect leader Kim Jong-Il to his most important post.
Analysts say blast-off was timed for maximum propaganda value ahead of the meeting, at which Kim is set to strengthen his grip on power despite lingering health concerns.
Senior communist party secretary Choe Thae-Bok called the exercise historic and a "proud victory" which struck a "hammer blow" to imperialists trying to stifle North Korea, according to the North's broadcasters monitored by Yonhap news agency.
Choe credited Kim's leadership and called for unity around the 67-year-old, who is widely reported to have suffered a stroke last August.
The North says its rocket put into orbit a communications satellite which is beaming back patriotic songs.
South Korea, Japan and the US military say there is no sign of the object in space, and the launch was in any case a disguised long-range missile test in violation of UN resolutions.
The North insists otherwise. On Tuesday it warned of "strong steps" if the United Nations censures it.
The United States and its allies are pushing for a strong Security Council response but face opposition from China, Russia and others.
Hours after the communist state released footage on Tuesday of the white rocket blasting off, its deputy UN ambassador Pak Tok-Hun said that if the council "takes any kind of steps whatever, we will consider this infringes upon the sovereignty of our country."
Pak told reporters in New York the North would take "necessary and strong steps" following any censure motion.
The North has previously warned it will walk out of long-running six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in response to any UN action.
"Every country has the inalienable right to use outer space peacefully," Pak said, insisting that the three-stage Taepodong-2 rocket carried a satellite and not a missile.
China has said the North has a right to the peaceful use of space, and called for a calm response "so as to jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the region and promote the six-party talks."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said world powers should "avoid any hasty conclusions" over the exercise.
With the world body divided, the United States has hinted it may not insist on a binding resolution.
The film footage suggests the North has made technological advances, Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, said Wednesday.
"It was launched in a more advanced way than in previous cases," Kawamura said, noting also it was much larger than those previously fired.
The first stage landed in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) between Japan and Korea and the remaining stages in the Pacific.
The North's military general staff, in a statement on official media, said it would not tolerate "irrational provocative activities targeting the DPRK (North Korea) by Japanese reactionaries, the century-old arch enemy."
It would "not forgive them if they dare to violate our sovereignty in the slightest."
The military called on Japan to "immediately stop its ridiculous military espionage activity" in the name of searching for parts. This was an "intolerable military provocation," it said.
Foreign experts say the second and third stage failed to separate and it fell short of the designated landing zone in the Pacific.
Still, South Korean media and analysts point out that the Taepodong-2 travelled some 3,200 kilometres (2,000 miles) -- twice the range North Korea achieved with a Taepodong-1 in 1998.
No comments:
Post a Comment