North Korea defies West with second firing of long-range rocket

[struggle4progress]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by muriel_volestrangler (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Los Angeles Times

By Barbara Demick
December 11, 2012, 6:23 p.m.

SEOUL -- North Korea launched a long-range rocket Wednesday morning in defiance of international warnings that the second test-firing of a missile this year would violate international sanctions ...

Japanese authorities had threatened to shoot down any missile fired over its territory but didn’t deploy its anti-missile defenses, the South Korean defense officials said.

Japan’s NHK network reported that missile fragments fell west of the Korean peninsula about 14 minutes after the launch, after passing over the island of Okinawa.

In announcing last week that the launch would be made between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22, North Korea described the mission as a peaceful test of its ability to put a satellite in orbit. The U.S., South Korea and other nations, however, condemned the planned firing as a brazen attempt to demonstrate Pyongyang’s ability to reach U.S. territory with a nuclear warhead ...

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-north-korea-launches-rocket-20121211,0,4357504.story

[Brother Buzz]

1. Bad timing, dudes. Everybody is more concerned about driving over a cliff, or something

[leveymg]

2. Looks like another NoKo failure to reach orbit, and another successful test of SDI?

[Purveyor]

4. Have a link to your claim. All I'm finding is the launch was a success. eom

[leveymg]

8. Early reports didn't confirm orbit, suggested a failure of the upper stages. My bad.

I assumed same old, same old.

[Arrowhead2k1]

3. So?

What now?!

[Purveyor]

5. North Korean rocket launch succeeds

North Korea appears to have successfully sent a satellite into orbit, US military officials have said after the regime launched a long-range rocket in defiance of international pressure to abandon what many see as a test of its ballistic missile capability.

The US, Japan and other countries immediately condemned the launch as a violation of international sanctions amid calls for further measures against Pyongyang.

US missile warning systems detected the rocket after it lifted off from a site on North Korea's west coast, said officials at the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad), adding that the rocket deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit around Earth.

Norad said the three-stage Unha rocket had taken its expected southerly course, with its first stage falling into the Yellow Sea west of South Korea and the second landing in the sea east of the Philippines.

More...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/12/north-korea-launches-rocket

[Archae]

6. More space junk...

My guess is this satellite is for spreading propaganda, mostly.

[Mr.Turnip]

7. Damn, it actually went off without any ridiculous failures this time.

[Posteritatis]

9. It turns out they actually did want this one to crash or something.

They've figured out their rocket technology is viciously sarcastic and will strive to do the opposite of what they officially want.

[zellie]

10. Whil I don't like the fact

that these rockets ca reach LA and SF, who are we to dictate who can have a nuclear warhead aimed at the Left Coast.

[greytdemocrat]

11. Wow!

Isn't it amazing what Mentos and Coca Cola can accomplish???

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Locking - duplicate thread

of http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014332857 . Please continue discussion there. Thanks.