Americas

Americas

Any launch by Pyongyang a "violation" of UN resolutions: U.S.envoy

10 April 2012 23:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Susan Rice, the United States’ UN ambassador who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for April, said here Tuesday that "any launch by the North Korea using ballistic missile technology ...will be a blatant violation" of relevant Security Council resolutions, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Rice made the remarks to reporters here after the 15-nation Security Council met behind closed doors on Iraq, Syria and other matters.

"It is clear that any launch by North Korea using ballistic missile technology, which is what it is, will be a blatant violation of Security Council resolution 1718 and 1834," Rice said.

Under relevant Security Council resolutions, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is prohibited from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology.

DPRK announced last month its plan to launch the Kwangmyongsong- 3 satellite, an earth observation satellite, between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung.

"We think that as a consequence of that, should it occur, the council should convene and respond credibly," Rice said, adding " There is no disagreement among members of the council that this is a provocative act."

Earlier on Tuesday, Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, said the DPRK’s planned satellite launch defied Security Council resolutions.

"We consider the decision by Pyongyang to carry out a launch of satellite as an example of disregard for UN resolutions," Alexander Lukashevich, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying by the Ria Novosti news agency.

However, an official from the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in Pyongyang on Tuesday that the scheduled satellite launch by the DPRK will not harm the region and neighboring countries.

At a press conference attended by foreign reporters, Ryu Gum Chol, deputy director of the Committee’s space development department, said the first two stages of the rocket, which will carry the satellite, will be dropped in the designated orbits.

According to Ryu, the exact date of the launch has not been set yet as preparations are still under way.

Brushing aside accusations that the satellite launch is a cover for missile test, the DPRK official said the 91-ton three-stage rocket does not have the same "attack power" as a ballistic missile.