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Winds may have delayed DPRK rocket launch

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-05 09:51

SEOUL, South Korea -- Strong winds may have delayed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from launching a rocket the US and Japan suspect is a cover for a long-range missile test.

Preparations for sending "an experimental communications satellite" into space were complete, DPRK's state media said Saturday morning, announcing: "The satellite will be launched soon."

Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) land-to-air missiles are deployed at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo April 4, 2009. [Agencies]

But winds around the launch site in northeastern DPRK were "relatively strong," state radio announced at midday, possibly too high for the launch of the long-range Taepodong-2 rocket, analysts said.

"Apart from being very cautious, DPRK may have put off the launch purely due to weather factors such as strong winds," said Atsuhito Isozaki, an assistant professor of DPRK's politics at Japan's Keio University.

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With all eyes on the Musudan-ri launch pad -- from missile interceptors in the waters, spy planes in the air and war rooms in Tokyo, Seoul and Washington -- DPRK may also have wanted to keep the world guessing, said Koh Yu-hwan of Seoul's Dongguk University.

On Sunday morning, DPRK's state radio said the sky would be clearer and winds lighter along the country's northeast coast throughout the day, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry. South Korea's weather agency also forecast fine weather for areas that include Pyongyang's launch pad.

For weeks since DPRK announced its intention to send a satellite into space aboard a long-range rocket, diplomats from five nations seeking to disarm the state of nuclear weapons have pressed Pyongyang to refrain from a launch they say violates a UN resolution barring it from ballistic activity.

DPRK insists the launch is a peaceful move to develop its space program, and informed international aviation and maritime authorities liftoff would take place sometime between April 4 and 8, between 11 am and 4 pm.

But the US, South Korea and Japan suspect the launch is a guise for testing long-range missile technology -- a step toward eventually mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.

US President Barack Obama said the launch would be "provocative" and would prompt the US to "take appropriate steps to let DPRK know that it can't threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity."

Japan's foreign minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, said Saturday it would be "regrettable" if Pyongyang fails to heed its neighbors' appeals.

"The launch will damage peace and stability in Asia. We strongly urge DPRK to refrain from it," chief Japanese government spokesman Takeo Kawamura said.

UN Security Council diplomats say a draft resolution now circulating could reaffirm and tighten enforcement of the demands and sanctions of a resolution passed after DPRK conducted a nuclear test on 2006.

Taking no chances, Japan deployed warships and missile interceptors off its northern coast to shoot down any wayward parts that might litter the area as the rocket passes over the country.

DPRK has warned Japan any attempt to intercept the satellite would mean war and has vowed to shoot down American U-2 spy planes broaching its airspace.

Russia scrambled fighter jets to the Far East and put its troops there on alert, Sergei Roshcha, an aide to regional commander Lt. Gen. Valery Ivanov, told the Russian news agency Interfax.

The military is tracking the missile path and will not let any fragments fall on Russian territory, Vesti television said, citing a source in the Russian Armed Forces' General staff.