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South Korea said Tuesday that it will make rapid and effective responses to possible launch of a long-range rocket by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK) via the UN Security Council.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il told a press briefing that the DPRK's launch of any ballistic missile will be a grave act of provocation and military threat in violation of the UN Security Council's resolutions that ban the DPRK's all acts using any ballistic missile technology.
To take rapid and effective measures via the UN Security Council in response to any DPRK launch of a long-range ballistic missile, South Korea will closely cooperate with related countries, including members of the UN Security Council, the spokesman said.
His comments came a day after the DPRK's National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) said that it was accelerating efforts at the final stage of developing satellites for earth observations, indicating the long-range rocket launch around the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Oct. 10.
Until now, no specific movements have been detected for the DPRK's long-range rocket launch, Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a press briefing, saying that the country was closely monitoring all situations about the DPRK's long-range missile firing along with the United States.
The anonymous NADA director told the official KCNA news agency that successful progress has been made in its expansion of launching grounds for higher-level satellite lift-off, noting that the world will witness more satellites of Songun (military-first policy of the DPRK) fired into the sky at the times and locations determined by its ruling party.
Such comments fueled speculations that Pyongyang may test-fire a long-range rocket, which South Korea claimed was a ballistic missile, around the upcoming Oct. 10 grand celebrations.
The DPRK recently erected a 67-meter-long launch tower for long- range rockets, taller than the previous 50-meter pad, at a Tongchang-ri rocket base in the northwest DPRK. The country fired a three-stage Unha-3 rocket into the space orbit in December 2012, two months before its third nuclear test. Enditem
