South Korea Warns to Shoot Down North Korean Rocket

South Korea Warns to Shoot Down North Korean Rocket

Seoul warned Monday that it would bring down parts of a North Korean rocket that violate South Korean territory, as worries about a long-range missile test regressing an international nuclear security summit escalates.

North Korea has gained the attention of Northeast Asia since its previous announcement that it would send a satellite into space aboard a long-range rocket. On Monday, almost 60 world leaders gathered in Seoul to talk about strategies to cancel this nuclear activity.

The North labels the nuclear launch a part of its peaceful space program and says its flight path is meant to avoid other countries. In contrast, Washington and Seoul concluded that the multistage rocket is meant to test delivery systems for long-range missiles that could be mounted with nuclear weapons.

"We are studying measures such as tracking and shooting down (parts) of a North Korean missile in case they stray out of their normal trajectory" and violate South Korean territory, said Yoon Won-shik, a vice spokesman at the Defense Ministry.

"We cannot help viewing [the nuclear launch] as a very reckless, provocative act" that undermines peace on the Korean peninsula, he said.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries are aware that the North has transferred the rocket into a building at a site near the Tongchang-ri village in North Phyongan province and that it is making preparations for a launch.

The Tongchang-ri launch site is about 35 miles or 50 kilometers from Dandong, China’s border city.  Analysts describe it as a more sophisticated site that would allow North Korea to fire the rocket from the west coast to avoid sending it over other countries.

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak urged North Korea in a joint news conference Sunday to immediately stop its launch plans, warning they would deal the North sternly if it does otherwise.

Obama said this move would contravene a deal settled last month in which the U.S. would ship food aid supply to the North in exchange for a nuclear freeze.

Posted by James Fried on Tuesday March 27 2012, 10:37 AM EDT. Ref: Reuters. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0