While Pyongyang says it successfully launched a rocket, Russia says that North Korea did not put the satellite in orbit. North Korea’s defiance over launching a rocket in spite of much disapproval from such countries as South Korea, US, Japan, China, and Russia came in the midst of speculations that the launch was part of North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear weapons program.
The communist regime in Pyongyang has, however, ensured that what it launched was an experimental communications satellite named ‘Kwangmyongsong-2’ on carrier rocket ‘Unha-2.’ Communist leader Kim Jong-Il was said to have been present at the launch of the long-range rocket that put the experimental communications satellite in orbit.
Russia, which shares a border with North Korea and earlier called for restraint, now asserts that North Korea did not place the satellite in orbit. “Our control system has not detected North Korea’s satellite in cosmic space. According to our data, there is no such satellite in orbit,” say Russian authorities.
The UN Security Council concluded its deliberations on the crisis created by North Korea’s defiance to launch the long-range rocket without reaching any consensus on what action to take against Pyongyang.
Even if both the US and South Korea claim that the rocket and its load fell into the ocean about 1,900 miles (3,100 kilometers) from the launch site in northeastern North Korea, it still gained twice the distance of a rocket that was launched in 1998 and far better than a 2006 launch of a long-range missile. It may not have reached a distance that approximates the US target, but it was a clear indication that North Korea is getting better each time at firing rockets.
Via philstar
