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North Korea ignores international opposition, launches rocket

Despite U.N. sanctions and international warnings, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Wednesday. Most analysts agree the move was intended to bolster national support for Kim Jong-un.

North Korean make their way in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday morning. North Korea has made no mention yet of a rocket that South Korean and Japanese officials say was launched from a west coast site.

AP Photo/Kyodo News

December 11, 2012

Isolated and impoverished North Korea聽launched its second long-range rocket of 2012 on Wednesday and may have finally succeeded in putting a satellite into space, the stated aim of what critics say is a disguised ballistic missile test.

The rocket was launched just before 10 a.m. Korean time (0100 GMT) and overflew the Japanese island of Okinawa.

A rocket launch by North Korea聽in April was aborted after less than two minutes flight. Wednesday's launch came after the North聽carried out repairs on the rocket, which South Korean officials said had been removed from its gantry on Monday.

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叠辞迟丑听South Korea听补苍诲听Japan聽called meetings of their top security councils after the launch 补苍诲听Japan聽said it could not tolerate the action.聽Japanese television station NHK聽said the second stage of the rocket had crashed into seas off the聽Philippines聽as planned.

It was not immediately clear if the third stage carrying the satellite had made it into space.

"Whether the satellite launch (orbit) itself succeeds or not, it is a success for North Korea聽anyway," said Kim Young-soo, a North Korea聽expert at聽Sogang University聽in South Korea.

There was no immediate annoucement from North Korea聽on the launch. It made a formal announcement when the April launch had failed, but has previously claimed that it put a satellite into space in 2009, something no one has been able to verify.

"We will convene an emergency security meeting at 10:30. The launch was made around 9.50 a.m.," an official at South Korea's presidential office in聽Seoul听蝉补颈诲.

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The聽North launched the rocket close to the Dec. 17 anniversary of the death of former leader聽Kim Jong-il聽last year and as elections loom in聽South Korea听补苍诲听Japan.

Pyongyang聽says it is entitled to launch a satellite into space but critics say the rocket development is aimed at nurturing the kind of technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.

North Korea is banned from conducting missile and nuclear-related tests under U.N. sanctions imposed after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

The rocket's path was scheduled to pass between the Korean peninsula 补苍诲听China, with a second stage splashing down off the聽Philippines聽before launching the satellite into orbit.

Most political analysts believe the launch is designed to bolster the credentials of new leader聽Kim Jong-un聽as he cements his rule over the country of 22 million people.

A government official in聽Seoul聽said recently that the transition of power to聽Kim Jong-un聽did not appear to be going as smoothly as anticipated and there were signs that the regime was concerned over the possibility of rising dissent.

Kim is the third of his line to rule North Korea, whose national output is around one-fortieth of that of prosperous South Korea.

Plans for the launch had drawn criticism from聽South Korea,聽Russia,聽Japan聽and the聽United States聽as well as NATO and the聽United Nations.

The聽North's only major diplomatic ally,聽China, has expressed "deep concern" over the launch but is thought unlikely to back any further sanctions against its ally.