North Korea: broadcasts footage said to show latest missile launch

[snoop1130]

North Korea: broadcasts footage said to show latest missile launch
Euronews

NORTH KOREA -- North Korea has broadcast footage said to show the launch of a long-range rocket.

North Korean leader Kim Jong un is also seen visiting the command centre at the launch site.

However, there is no date on the footage from Korean state broadcaster, KRT.

South Korean employees have begun leaving the Kaesong Industrial complex.

It comes after the government in Seoul decided to suspend its involvement in the factory, which is just inside North Korea.

South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said North Korea is suspected of using money from the complex on its nuclear weapons and long-range missile programme.

A South Korean government official is quoted as saying the decision was taken reluctantly and it is difficult to see how operations could be resumed in the near future.

Kaesong is one of the few examples of cooperation between Seoul and Pyongyang.

The complex is just on the North Korean side of the heavily-defended border between the two countries.

Opened in 2005

54 km north-west of Seoul

124 South Korean companies on site

Small and medium-sized businesses

54,700 North Koreans employed at the site

Shut down for five months in 2013 due to tensions

Generated 110bn USD (97bn euros) in 2015

Average wage is 160 USD (141 euros) a month

It offers a rare opportunity for Koreans divided by the 1950-53 war to interact on a daily basis.

Except for Kaesong, both countries forbid their citizens from communicating with each other across what is the world’s most-fortified border.

Why is this happening?

January 6th – a fourth nuclear test by North Korea reported

February 7th – “long-range missile launch* reported

There is increased tension on the Korean peninsula following a rocket launch last Sunday and fourth nuclear test by North Korea last month.

South Korea has joined the US in calling for further UN sanctions against Pyongyang.

Mounting pressure on Pyongyang


The US, South Korea and Japan agreed late on Wednesday to share more information and coordinate security operations in the region

The US Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday in favour of tougher sanctions on Pyongyang

US and South Korea to begin formal talks on deploying the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) on the Korean peninsula at the “earliest opportunity”

What they are saying

“The test and launches are direct violations of UN resolutions and are serious provocations against the international community. We agree to firmly respond to Pyongyang’s actions through trilateral information-sharing and to coordinate and to coordinate further on mutual security issues to enhance peace and security in the region.” – Statement from Chiefs of Defense of US, South Korea and Japan.

“Putting our peoples’ safety as a top priority, our military is fully prepared to deal with any contingency which can happen in the Kaesong Industrial Complex.” – Moon Sang-gyun, South Korean Defence Ministry spokesperson.

“We joked about Kaesong shutting down but I was surprised when it really happened. Personally, I feel sorry for North Koreans. They are far more worried than we are.” – Kim Soo-hee, a South Korean nurse at Kaesong

“We piled up instant noodles, bread and drinks in our warehouse so North Korean workers could come eat and eat for free. We don’t mind them eating our food, we only care about them working hard.” – Lee Jong-ku, electrical factory owner at Kaesong

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-02-11

[arjunadawn]

This Iranian North Korean missile launch demonstrates the utter failure of Obama's "strategic patience" policy. (In essence, not-policy). In Obama's defense, he really did inherit much of the N Korean problem. What is new however is the ridiculously evident cover North Korea provides Iranian researchers and the "ah duh!' witnessing the West endures. This is Obama's child. The N Korean/Iranian alliance to build global delivery platforms. People can obfuscate and state "missiles are unrelated to the recent 'deal' Iran made with others" but only the gullible and dolts believe delaying military nukes while developing delivery platforms are unrelated. I am unsure "axis of evil" was a descriptive or useful term but it surely was touching upon facts.

[chilli42]