A new flurry of carefully manufactured international outcry came today with reports that North Korea plans to launch a satellite into orbit, prompting claims that they are in violation of a UN Security Council resolution aimed at preventing them from testing missiles.
The South Korean foreign ministry, as always, was quick to join into the condemnation, insisting the efforts to launch a satellite into orbit were a “grave provocation” and a threat to all of north-east Asia.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “seriously concerned” by the potential satellite use, saying that the UN resolutions banned any ballistic missile technology, no matter what the usage.
North Korea last attempted to launch a satellite in 2009, which they termed a success even though the satellite ended up in the ocean. This spawned a particularly odd incident a few months later when speculation of a second test launch had US Defense Secretary Robert Gates claiming that North Korea’s program was a threat to Hawaii.
