[AJU NEWS CORP DB]
Tension soared around the Korean peninsula Wednesday after North Korea notified a UN agency that it would launch a long-range rocket this month to put a satellite into orbit in defiance of warnings from the United States and its allies.
Pyongyang informed UN agencies about its rocket launch sometime between February 8 and 25, amid discussions among UN Security Council members for tougher sanctions against its fourth nuclear test on January 6.
"This latest announcement further underscores the need for the international community to send the North Koreans a swift, firm message that its disregard for UN Security Council resolutions will not be tolerated," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said in Washington.
South Korea said North Korea would "pay a harsh price", condemning its rocket launch as a "daring challenge" to the international community.
"North Korea should immediately cancel its plan by recognizing that any launch using ballistic missile technology is a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions," Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of the presidential office of national security, said after a high-level security conference.
China expressed "serious concern" but indicated it can't prevent Pyongyang from launching a rocket.
"We don't want to see any escalation of tensions. But if the relevant country insists on doing so, we are not able to stop them," China's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.
China's nuclear envoy Wu Dawei is now in Pyongyang, but Beijing declined to give details.
North Korea says its rocket launches are for peaceful use, but the United States and its allies consider them a cover for developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver a nuclear bomb.
North Korea claimed in December 2012 that it successfully launched a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit.
The 2012 launch sparked concern about North Korea's ability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to mount on a missile. Concern about North Korean missiles grew in South Korea last year when Pyongyang said it had successfully conducted a rare test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
North Korea's nuclear and missile programs have invited international condemnation and sanctions. But the North has continued to upgrade its launch site with an extended launchpad for a bigger, multi-stage missile.
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reporter
Park Sae-jin
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