Why should North Korea launch a missile?
RIA Novosti (international commentator Ivan Zakharchenko) - Regular malnutrition and an almost global blockade have not prevented North Korea from developing missile technologies. Now Pyongyang has announced its intention to launch a rocket with a communications satellite from its spaceport. It must have very serious reasons for doing this.
As distinct from the past, this time North Korea did not make a secret out of this launch, especially after U.S. spy satellites tracked down the transportation of what looked like components of a ballistic missile to the testing ground on the country's eastern coast.
The North Korean Aerospace Technologies Committee announced in advance North Korea's intention to launch a satellite with a carrier rocket poetically called Unha-2 (The Milky Way). North Korean officials explained that Pyongyang continues its ambitious space program started in the 1980s to turn the country into a "mighty power" by 2012.
One of the reasons for rocket launches is rooted in the domestic situation. Although its stability is beyond doubt, national leader Kim Jong-il has not been seen in public for a long time, and is rumored to be in bad health. A spacecraft launch can well promote pride, patriotism, and hence, his prestige in North Korean minds.
Second, the launch is linked with Barack Obama's election. It is a good way of attracting Washington's attention now that it is focused on the Middle East, Iran, and the domestic economic crisis. In the past, the result was guaranteed. A North Korean nuclear test in October 2006, for instance, was a catalyst for six-party talks in Beijing with the participation of Russia, the United States, China, both Koreas and Japan. They are aimed at Pyongyang's irreversible renunciation of nuclear R&D.
Third, this launch will be addressed to South Korea, which has had a conservative government for a year. This government has given up South Korea's ten-year course towards rapprochement and cooperation with Pyongyang.
The South Korean public should see North Korea's achievements in space technologies, on the one hand, and realize that they could become a dangerous weapon if relations between two Koreas are tense, on the other. Apparently, North Korea expects South Koreans to display their displeasure with Lee Myung-bak's policy and demand resumption of cooperation with Pyongyang.
Fourth, although Pyongyang claims that this will be a civilian launch, the space technologies used in the process can well be used for military purposes - to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. Nuclear weapons could make these technologies a serious argument in North Korea's attempts to uphold its interests, for instance, restore relations with the United States.
South Korea considers even a civilian launch to be a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718, which prohibits Pyongyang to develop ballistic missiles.
As distinct from the past, this time North Korea did not make a secret out of this launch, especially after U.S. spy satellites tracked down the transportation of what looked like components of a ballistic missile to the testing ground on the country's eastern coast.
The North Korean Aerospace Technologies Committee announced in advance North Korea's intention to launch a satellite with a carrier rocket poetically called Unha-2 (The Milky Way). North Korean officials explained that Pyongyang continues its ambitious space program started in the 1980s to turn the country into a "mighty power" by 2012.
One of the reasons for rocket launches is rooted in the domestic situation. Although its stability is beyond doubt, national leader Kim Jong-il has not been seen in public for a long time, and is rumored to be in bad health. A spacecraft launch can well promote pride, patriotism, and hence, his prestige in North Korean minds.
Second, the launch is linked with Barack Obama's election. It is a good way of attracting Washington's attention now that it is focused on the Middle East, Iran, and the domestic economic crisis. In the past, the result was guaranteed. A North Korean nuclear test in October 2006, for instance, was a catalyst for six-party talks in Beijing with the participation of Russia, the United States, China, both Koreas and Japan. They are aimed at Pyongyang's irreversible renunciation of nuclear R&D.
Third, this launch will be addressed to South Korea, which has had a conservative government for a year. This government has given up South Korea's ten-year course towards rapprochement and cooperation with Pyongyang.
The South Korean public should see North Korea's achievements in space technologies, on the one hand, and realize that they could become a dangerous weapon if relations between two Koreas are tense, on the other. Apparently, North Korea expects South Koreans to display their displeasure with Lee Myung-bak's policy and demand resumption of cooperation with Pyongyang.
Fourth, although Pyongyang claims that this will be a civilian launch, the space technologies used in the process can well be used for military purposes - to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. Nuclear weapons could make these technologies a serious argument in North Korea's attempts to uphold its interests, for instance, restore relations with the United States.
South Korea considers even a civilian launch to be a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718, which prohibits Pyongyang to develop ballistic missiles.
