Sometime during the week of April 16th, North Korea is throwing a party, fireworks and all. The isolated authoritarian nation plans to launch a 32-meter-long rocket in order to celebrate the 100th birthday of its late president, Kim Il Sung.
However, all of the disapproving commments received by other countries has led many to talk of fear, not fireworks. Though some say the missile is a harmless space rocket, most nations are skeptical of what seems will be North Korea’s third failed ballistic missile attempt.
Both South Korea and Japan, located near the flight path of the launch, have threatened to shoot down the missile if it approaches their respective territories. In South Korea, officials are warning of a threat to the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula, and even Asia as a whole, if the launch is successful.
Other distraught neighbors, like Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia, may all soon find debris from the launch on their land, given the likely possibility that the missile deviates from its intended course across the waters of the Far East.
The United States simply does not approve. White House spokesman Jay Carney stated, “We view the potential rocket launch as a very provocative act that would be, if it were conducted, in direct violation of North Korea’s internal obligations.” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland summed up the feelings of the United States using four small words: “Do not do it.”
Nations all around are lining up to condemn the provocative act, which many believe is being done as a means of promoting North Korea’s young new leader, Kim Jong-Un, who took over after the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, at the end of last year. The fact that two other launches very similar to this one, one in 1998 and another in 2009, have failed leads to assumptions of the nation’s bad intentions, which, by this point, may in fact be justified.
As an equivalent of a ballistic missile test, the act itself is in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and a recent February 29th deal in which the United States would supply food to North Korea if the country agreed to limit its nuclear program.
However, at first, North Korea’s plans did not seem to affect the White House’s decision to continue with the food aid deal, even though it had prior knowledge of these plans. To the satisfaction of many other nations, food aid for North Korea is on hold for the week while officials wait to see whether the nation goes through with the launch.
Former CIA Korea specialist Bruce Klingner seems to agree with the world’s general opinion, stating, “After North Korea launched similar missiles or satellites, the U.N. Security Council passed a number of resolutions precluding North Korea from being able to launch any item using ballistic missile technology,” which would go against the “peaceful purposes” the Space Treaty had in mind.
Klingner also added that, “North Korea feels that when it is raising tensions, it will make other nations cower and offer concessions in return for lowering the tensions that North Korea has raised.”
With this planned rocket launch, North Korea seems to be raising more speculation, and more opposition, than ever. Questions about the launch’s mission and about the country itself have been raised and analyzed tirelessly. It seems that the best option for North Korea at this point is to cancel the launch completely and listen to the ostensibly simple but intelligent advice of Victoria Nuland. In just a few short days, though, questions will be answered, and the world’s anger will either deepen or subside.
UPDATE (Friday, April 13, 2011): It seems like the day of Friday the 13th really is cursed. The rocket, launched from northern North Korea early on Friday, April 13, was a failure as expected. According to Japanese, American, and South Korean officials, after being launched for barely two minutes at 7:40 a.m. local time, it was confirmed that a certain flying object had fallen into waters off of the Korean Peninsula, making for a billion dollar humiliation. To the satisfaction of many critics, according to Thomson Reuters, “The United States will not go forward with planned food aid to North Korea after the impoverished nation’s unsuccessful launch of a long-range missile, which Washington had warned would have consequences.” But the consequences don’t stop there. Kim Jong-Un, who wanted the world to see the legitimacy of his top political power, now faces the embarrassment that follows a failed event that everyone warned him against.