(NSI News Source Info) TOKYO - April 7, 2009: It isn’t a bird, it isn’t a plane, and it’s certainly not Superman – but is it a satellite? Two days after North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket rattled the rest of the world, there is still no agreement on what it was actually doing.
A US research institute has released the first photographs of Sunday’s launch of the Musudan-ri launch site in the north-east of North Korea. They clearly show the rocket’s smoke trail across the forested hills and the fiery trail of the projectile itself. But where did it end up? 
Satellite image released late April 06, 2009 by the Institute for Science and International security (ISIS) and taken by the commercial satellite imagery service Digitalglobe on April 05, 2009 showing what appears to be the Musudan-ri North Korean rocket or missile in flight. The secretive North Korean stated claimed it had launched a satellite on April 05 that was now circling the globe, transmitting data and patriotic songs praising secretive leader Kim Jong-Il. But the United States and South Korea said the launch had failed to get anything into orbit, and experts said the rocket's second and third stages apparently failed to separate over the Pacific.
The North Korean state media repeated their claim yesterday that the launch had been a complete success, pitching into orbit the Kwangmyongsong 2, or ‘Lodestar’, satellite. The name is one of the titles awarded to the country’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, who witnessed the launch and reportedly expressed great satisfaction with what sounds less like a communications beacon than a giant musical box.
“Our satellite is transmitting the immortal revolutionary paeans The Song of General Kim Il Sung and The Song of General Kim Jong-il as well as measured information to the earth,” the Korean Central News Agency reported. Both are hymns to Mr Kim and his father, the founding president of North Korea.
“Liberator of the working people,” goes The Song of General Kim Il Sung. “Democratic new Korea, great Sun/ We rally around the twenty principles/ Everywhere in North Korea is spring.” But four of the countries monitoring the skies for the signs of the warbling space vehicle – the US, Russia, South Korea and Japan – report no sign of it, or its music.
Far from being entertained, the US, Britain and France, with vigorous lobbying by Japan, are pressing for stern action in the UN Security Council – although their efforts have so far been blocked by North Korea’s former Cold War allies, China and Russia, who can veto any resolution.
“We are actively involved in consultation with partners at the United Nations, members of the Security Council,” Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said. “We know that working out the exact language is not easily done overnight, but we remain convinced that coming out with a strong position in the United Nations is the first and important step that we intend to take.”
But Moscow and Beijing wish to avoid alienating North Korea and to continue the six way negotiations on the future of its nuclear programme which have made slow progress in Beijing.
“The core element in this situation is the six-party talks," said Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN, in New York yesterday. “The key thing is to make sure that we do not confine ourselves to an emotional knee-jerk reaction because what we do need is a common strategy and not losing sight of the goal - and this is the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.”
According to the US military, the rocket flew safely over Japan and ditched its final stage – and, apparently, its satellite payload – into the Pacific Ocean after a journey of 3,200 km (1,990 miles). However unsuccessful the satellite launch, this is further than any North Korean missile has flow before.
But, according to reports in a South Korean newspaper yesterday, the North will rely on reports from its enemies, because it lacks radar powerful enough to track the flight of its own missile all the way to the end. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper also claimed that a North Korean ship dispatched to monitor the flight had to turn back because of mechanical problems and that an air force plane crashed because of poor maintenance.
In North Korea, today’s Rodong Sinmun (Worker’s Newspaper) quoted Mr Kim making a point that many of his enemies also have – that, with regular famines which may have killed as many as several million people, North Korea can hardly afford an expensive space programme.
“While preparing for this proud victory, the General felt regret that more resources could not be used for the people's livelihood but said the people would understand him,” the paper reported. “Our hearts are rent by the General's remarks.”
Satellite image released late April 06, 2009 by the Institute for Science and International security (ISIS) and taken by the commercial satellite imagery service Digitalglobe on April 05, 2009 showing what appears to be the Musudan-ri North Korean rocket or missile in flight. The secretive North Korean stated claimed it had launched a satellite on April 05 that was now circling the globe, transmitting data and patriotic songs praising secretive leader Kim Jong-Il. But the United States and South Korea said the launch had failed to get anything into orbit, and experts said the rocket's second and third stages apparently failed to separate over the Pacific.
The North Korean state media repeated their claim yesterday that the launch had been a complete success, pitching into orbit the Kwangmyongsong 2, or ‘Lodestar’, satellite. The name is one of the titles awarded to the country’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, who witnessed the launch and reportedly expressed great satisfaction with what sounds less like a communications beacon than a giant musical box.
“Our satellite is transmitting the immortal revolutionary paeans The Song of General Kim Il Sung and The Song of General Kim Jong-il as well as measured information to the earth,” the Korean Central News Agency reported. Both are hymns to Mr Kim and his father, the founding president of North Korea.
“Liberator of the working people,” goes The Song of General Kim Il Sung. “Democratic new Korea, great Sun/ We rally around the twenty principles/ Everywhere in North Korea is spring.” But four of the countries monitoring the skies for the signs of the warbling space vehicle – the US, Russia, South Korea and Japan – report no sign of it, or its music.
Far from being entertained, the US, Britain and France, with vigorous lobbying by Japan, are pressing for stern action in the UN Security Council – although their efforts have so far been blocked by North Korea’s former Cold War allies, China and Russia, who can veto any resolution.
“We are actively involved in consultation with partners at the United Nations, members of the Security Council,” Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said. “We know that working out the exact language is not easily done overnight, but we remain convinced that coming out with a strong position in the United Nations is the first and important step that we intend to take.”
But Moscow and Beijing wish to avoid alienating North Korea and to continue the six way negotiations on the future of its nuclear programme which have made slow progress in Beijing.
“The core element in this situation is the six-party talks," said Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN, in New York yesterday. “The key thing is to make sure that we do not confine ourselves to an emotional knee-jerk reaction because what we do need is a common strategy and not losing sight of the goal - and this is the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.”
According to the US military, the rocket flew safely over Japan and ditched its final stage – and, apparently, its satellite payload – into the Pacific Ocean after a journey of 3,200 km (1,990 miles). However unsuccessful the satellite launch, this is further than any North Korean missile has flow before.
But, according to reports in a South Korean newspaper yesterday, the North will rely on reports from its enemies, because it lacks radar powerful enough to track the flight of its own missile all the way to the end. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper also claimed that a North Korean ship dispatched to monitor the flight had to turn back because of mechanical problems and that an air force plane crashed because of poor maintenance.
In North Korea, today’s Rodong Sinmun (Worker’s Newspaper) quoted Mr Kim making a point that many of his enemies also have – that, with regular famines which may have killed as many as several million people, North Korea can hardly afford an expensive space programme.
“While preparing for this proud victory, the General felt regret that more resources could not be used for the people's livelihood but said the people would understand him,” the paper reported. “Our hearts are rent by the General's remarks.”
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