03 February 2016•Update: 03 February 2016
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
Seoul’s presidential office cautioned North Korea Wednesday that it would “pay a harsh price” if it goes ahead with a planned rocket launch this month.
The warning came as South Korea convened a National Security Council meeting hours after it emerged that the North had notified the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization of its intention to send a satellite into orbit between Feb. 8 and 25.
With the international community still to punish Pyongyang for its nuclear test last month, National Security Office deputy chief Cho Tae-yong added at a briefing that North Korea’s announcement was a “challenge” to the world.
Echoing South Korea’s close military ally the United States, Cho reminded the North that any launch using ballistic missile technology would violate existing U.N. resolutions – the reclusive state’s last long-range rocket launch, which also involved a satellite, was in 2012.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo accused North Korea of escalating tensions “at a time when the United Nations is discussing punitive sanctions.”
Han was quoted by local news agency Yonhap as threatening to “strengthen capabilities” with the U.S.
That could be of concern to China, which has been vocal in its opposition to the potential deployment of an American missile defense system known as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) in the South, where around 30,000 U.S. military personnel are already based.
The fear for all related parties is that North Korea could be getting closer to being able to launch long-range nuclear missiles – but Beijing has been reluctant to provoke Pyongyang further.
China’s foreign ministry confirmed a day earlier that its leading nuclear envoy was in the North Korean capital for talks.
South Korea and the U.S. have departed from the path of dialogue with Pyongyang for now, demanding tougher sanctions – Beijing has the power to block such a move at the U.N. Security Council, as does Russia.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has underlined that his government would work with South Korea and the U.S. in pressuring Pyongyang to abandon its launch plan.
Kyodo news agency quoted him as describing such a launch as a de facto test of a long-range ballistic missile and "a grave act of provocation toward Japan's security".
The island nation’s defense minister, Gen Nakatani, has ordered its Self-Defense Forces to be on alert and conduct rigorous surveillance.
"We want to take all possible measures to be ready to deal with any eventuality," Nakatani told reporters, revealing that the Forces have been ordered to prepare to shoot down any missiles from North Korea that could threaten Japanese territory.
