WASHINGTON - North Korea said Sunday it had succeeded in sending a satellite into space, in a launch that has been condemned by the international community.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite was carried aloft by a three-stage Unha-2 (Taepodong-2) rocket and is now orbiting the earth.
The rocket passed over Japan, with the first stage landing in the Sea of Japan and a booster falling in the Pacific. Japanese officials said no debris fell on its territory.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the launch “provocative” and a clear violation of U.N. Security Council rules.
In a written statement released in Prague, the Czech Republic, where Mr. Obama will deliver a speech Sunday on eliminating nuclear weapons, the president said North Korea’s development and proliferation of ballistic missile technology poses a threat to the northeast Asian region and to international peace and security.
The U.N. Security Council announced it would meet at three p.m. Sunday (1900 UTC) New York time, after Japan submitted a letter requesting an urgent meeting.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced regret Sunday, saying the launch was not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability.
South Korea condemned the launch, calling it “reckless.”
The Czech presidency of the 27-nation European Union issued a statement condemning the launch and urging North Korea to immediately suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.
North Korean allies Russia and China called for calm and restraint.
North Korea had said it planned to launch a communications satellite. Pyongyang’s neighbors and the United States believe the launch was a test of the North’s long-range ballistic missile capability.
Pyongyang missed its first chance at the controversial liftoff Saturday — a move meteorologists blamed on bad weather conditions.
It had vowed to hold the launch between Saturday and Wednesday.
Source: VOA News
