Pyongyang has successfully tested a long-range rocket. What may happen next -- including missiles someday armed with nuclear warheads -- could make matters worse.
After announcing that its rocket was facing technical difficulties that might delay its impending test, North Korea surprised the international community by abruptly launching a three-stage rocket on Wednesday morning local time. Even more surprising than the timing was that the “Unha” (the Korean word for “galaxy”) rocket appears to have successfully placed the Kwangmyongsong-3 (“Shining Star-3”) satellite into orbit, albeit there are reports that it is encountering difficulties.
But space enthusiasts have nothing to cheer. Under the guise of developing a space launch vehicle, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is pursuing an intercontinental-range missile (ICBM) capability that would allow it reach targets as far away as California and Alaska. Long-range rockets designed as space delivery vehicles and long-range ballistic missiles intended to carry warheads use similar engines, boosters, and other technologies, though a satellite can be made lighter than a nuclear warhead, which needs a dense heat shield to withstand the high temperatures encountered in reentering the earth’s atmosphere. The Kwangmyongsong-3 weighs an estimated 100 kilograms, whereas a typical nuclear warhead weighs ten times more, though a good designer can make them far smaller and therefore lighter.
This was the fifth time the DPRK test launched a three-stage long-range missile potentially designed to reach the continental United States. Although the first four rocket tests failed, this most recent one has unexpectedly succeeded. The DPRK’s Taepodong (DPRK-named as Paektusan) long-range missiles use essentially the same technology as Unha and Paektusan rockets. The three-stage variants of these missiles have a potential range of perhaps 6,000-10,000 kilometers depending on the size of the payload it’s carrying, making it potentially sufficient to reach the western continental United States, which is roughly 9,000 km from North Korea.
The second rocket launch this year is yet another sign that the new generation of leaders in Pyongyang, led by Kim Jong-un, who assumed office last December, have not fundamentally departed from Kim Jong-il’s foreign and defense policies. In fact, DPRK propaganda has used the rocket test to glorify the achievements of the Kim dynasty. The DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that, "At a time when great yearnings and reverence for Kim Jong-il pervade the whole country, its scientists and technicians brilliantly carried out his behests to launch a scientific and technological satellite in 2012, the year marking the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung," a reference to North Korea's first leader and Kim Jong-un's grandfather. The launch also commemorates the first anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death, and more than compensates for the embarrassment Kim Jong-un suffered when the test in April proved to be a spectacular failure.
Photo Credit: Flickr (yeowatzup)
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ug lee
they said that china is not going to be friends with nk
petrt
The world may not believe that NK’s nuk may be dropped on China at end. That will be very interesting. If we look into what different between China and NK, it is possible. Maybe very likely.
Robert Bennett
Countries which were allies of the US became involved in the Korean War because the USSR was not present at the Security Council meeting and the US pushed a resolution thru. At that time China was represented in the SC by the Nationalists who had just escaped to Taiwan. The US had installed Synman Rhee as a dictator in the South and had refused to hold election in all of Korea as they knew that Kim il Sung would win as he was a national hero and his followers were the only Koreans who fought the Japanese occupation. At the time, the US was obsessed with "communism" and was not sufficiently mature to see that nationalism is a stronger force. Secretary of State Allen Dulles even refused to shake the hand of Chinese foreign minister Zhou En Lai at the Geneva Conference in 1954. The Chinese wanted to have normal diplomatic relations with the US, but that handshake had to wait until 1974 and Kissiinger/Nixon. One side effect was that the US dropped its pet, the Dalai Lama so as to appease the Chinese. If the US were to sign a peace treaty and recognize NK the tension would wind down. But so would the profits of the arms industry.
silaokoi
I agree Leonard. this is a china problem. bankotsu never really felt threatened by NK rockets… after all, NK would never bomb their chinese masters. for the rest of us in asia (asia is not just china.. duh)… NK is like china's evil henchman… pathetic by dangerous especially if it follows its wily chinese mastermind.
Bankotsu
"NK is like china's evil henchman…"
But North Korea didn't occupy foreign territory like Israel.