hankyoreh

By Park Byong-soo, staff reporter

North Korea has transported a one-stage rocket to a launching pad in Cholsan County, North Pyongan province.

A South Korean official said on Dec. 3, “North Korea is said to have assembled a missile and installed a one-stage rocket on the launch pad. The missile launch seems to approaching the final countdown.” As forewarned by North Korea, its military seems to have been going through the necessary technical preparations for a launch sometime between Dec. 10 and 22. It appears as though North Korea could assemble a thee-stage rocket and fuel it before launch. It is expected to take three days to install a three-stage rocket on the launch pad and one week before all preparations for the launch are completed.

The installation of a one-stage rocket was detected by the Mugunghwa satellite as well as military intelligence assets. “North Korea doesn’t possess the technology to hoist rockets on the launch pad after horizontally assembling all the rockets at once as we do with the Naro rocket. That’s why they install rockets one by one and technicians climb on the rocket to carry out the assembly,” said a government official.

If North Korea launches the rocket, the first-stage booster is expected to drop in the waters 140km west of Gyeokpo harbor in Buan, North Jeolla Province. This point is 18km to the south and 6km to the east of the point where the last North Korean rocket dropped in April. A government official said, “The analysis of the notice delivered by North Korea to neighboring countries indicated that the first-stage rocket is expected to drop in a 36x84km 2 patch of open waters 140km west of Gyeokpo harbor.”

The official added that the second booster will drop somewhere in a 105x302km 2 patch of sea, 136km east of the Philippines. North Korea recently conveyed its plans to Japan and other neighboring countries and international organizations including the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization.

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