North Korea invited foreign journalists to watch as it finished moving all three stages of a long-range rocket into position (photo), making it clear that it’s going ahead with the planned launch despite international condemnation, reported the Associated Press. Pyongyang has said it plans to launch a rocket to put a satellite into orbit between 12 April and 16 April to mark the hundredth anniversary of the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.Rico says this will not help the situation there; isn't it time for a Korean Spring?
Inviting Western journalists to the launch site is “part of a concerted effort by North Korea to convince its critics that the rocket program is for perfectly legitimate and peaceful purposes”, writes the BBC’s Charles Scanlon. There’s widespread speculation the launch is an excuse to test a long-range missile.
Meanwhile, the South Korean news agency Yonhap hears word from an intelligence official that North Korea is getting ready to conduct its third nuclear test. Satellite images allegedly show the regime building a new underground tunnel in the same location where nuclear tests were carried out in 2006 and 2009. The New York Times points out that some in South Korea believe the government is leaking the news ahead of Wednesday’s parliamentary elections in order to help the governing conservative party by emphasizing the threat from the North.
08 April 2012
Duck and cover
Daniel Politi, yet again, has a Slate article about North Korea:
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