Seoul: South Korean warships on Saturday scoured the Yellow Sea in search of debris from a failed North Korean rocket launch that has heightened tensions in the region and brought international condemnation on the country’s new leader amid a week of lavish celebrations to mark the centenary of the nation’s founder.
South Korea’s navy has deployed about 10 ships, including a corvette with sonar radar, to search for rocket debris, a Defence Ministry official said on Saturday.
He refused to provide further details and asked not to be named because the sensitive mission was still under way.
US Navy minesweepers and other ships were also believed to be in the area and were expected to join the search, which could offer evidence of what went wrong and what rocket technology North Korea has.
Japan’s Defence Ministry said it is not participating in the search because none of the debris is believed to have fallen in Japanese waters.
Japan’s vice defence minister, Shu Watanabe, warned the North not to try to block the search, saying in a televised interview that any such effort could heighten military tensions.
The rocket’s disintegration just moments after liftoff on Friday brought a rare public acknowledgement of failure from Pyongyang, which had hailed the launch as a show of strength amid North Korea’s persistent economic hardship.
The launch was timed to coincide with the country’s biggest holiday in decades, the 100th birthday of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council deplored North Korea’s rocket launch on Saturday, saying it violates two council resolutions that imposed tough sanctions against the reclusive Asian nation. The UN’s most powerful body said in a brief press statement after a closed meeting that members agreed to continue consultations “on an appropriate response in accordance with its responsibilities given the urgency of the matter.” US Ambassador Susan Rice, the current council president who read the statement, refused to speculate on whether a response might include new sanctions against North Korea.
The council imposed sanctions against North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006 and stepped up sanctions after its second test in 2009. North Korea’s attempt to launch a satellite ended in failure on Saturday when the rocket disintegrated over the Yellow Sea.
Western nations have said the launch was a cover for the testing of a long-range missile, and worries remain about North Korea’s nuclear programme amid reports that it may be planning another atomic test soon.
Speaking on behalf of the United States, Rice said, “We think it is important that the council respond credibly, and we will be working in that direction.” Rice said the Security Council was briefed on the failure of North Korea’s effort to launch a rocket by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco. (AP)
She said Fernandez-Taranco cited Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s statement that the launch “is in direct violation” of Security Council sanctions “and threatens regional stability.”
Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, called the launch “deplorable as it defies the firm and unanimous stance of the international community” and urged North Korea “not to undertake any further provocative actions that will heighten tension in the region,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said. (AP)