North Korea Says It Will Test Long-Range Rocket in December

So it appears that the regime either thinks it can influence the outcome of the ROK Presidential election or it thinks that this rocket test launch is more important for its security, for deterrence, and for potential commercial purposes than the potential for the reinstitution of the ROK Sunshine Policy.

V/R

Dave

December 1, 2012

North Korea Says It Will Test Long-Range Rocket in December

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea announced Saturday that it would attempt to launch a long-range rocket in mid-December, a defiant move just eight months after a failed April bid was widely condemned as a violation of a U.N. ban against developing its nuclear and missile programs.

The launch, set for Dec. 10 to 22, is likely to heighten already strained tensions with Washington and Seoul as the United States prepares for Barack Obama's second term as U.S. president and South Korea holds its own presidential election on Dec. 19.

This would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power following his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago. The announcement by North Korea's space agency followed speculation overseas about stepped-up activity at North Korea's west coast launch pad captured in satellite imagery.

A spokesman for North Korea's Korean Committee for Space Technology said scientists have "analyzed the mistakes" made in the failed April launch and improved the precision of its Unha rocket and Kwangmyongsong satellite, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

KCNA said the launch was a request of late leader Kim Jong Il, whose Dec. 17, 2011, death North Koreans are expected to mark with some fanfare. The space agency said the rocket would be mounted with a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite, and maintained its right to develop a peaceful space program.

Washington considers North Korea's rocket launches to be veiled covers for tests of technology for long-range missiles designed to strike the United States, and such tests are banned by the United Nations.

(Continued at the link below)

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/12/01/world/asia/ap-as-nkorea-rocket-launch.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&seid=auto&_r=0&pagewanted=print