hankyoreh

By Ha Eo-young, staff reporter and Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

On Dec. 5, North Korea finished setting up the 3-stage rocket on the launch pad. The rocket is believed to have a range of 10,000km, which would allow it to reach Los Angeles on the west coast of the U.S.

“Analysts believe that North Korea has placed all three stages of the Eunha-3 rocket on the launch pad at the Dongchang Village missile launch site in Cheolsan County,” said a South Korean government official. It is believed that, after it finishes installing radars and optical cameras to track the course of the rocket after launch, along with other observation and measurement equipment, the North will begin testing the rocket’s equipment.

Since the North has said they will launch the Eunha-3 rocket between the 10th and the 22nd of this month, it appears that the fueling of the rocket will start on the 8th or 9th.

“Even if they fuel the rocket before the 10th, the first day of the announced launch period, waiting ten days before the launch won’t be a problem,” said a source in the military. “Since the North has installed anti-heat and anti-humidity systems, we don’t think there will be any problems with the launch despite the fact it is taking place in the winter.”

RFA, an American radio broadcaster, reported that vehicles assumed to be fueling or maintenance trucks were seen in GeoEye satellite images.

“Since the ignition end time for the stage-one engine of the rocket that failed this past April was 130 seconds, we estimate that it could travel 10,000km,” an army missile expert said regarding the range of the rocket. “Since North Korean officials have indicated they are planning to use the Eunha-3 rocket just as they did last time, we believe the range is the same.” Compared with the Eunha-2 rocket that was launched in 2009, which had an estimated range of at least 6,700km, the rocket’s reach has increased considerably.

“The Eunha-2 from 2009 could only hit Alaska, but the Eunha-3 rocket being launched this time can target the West Coast,” a military official said. “The fact that it can reach the continental US makes a big difference in terms of strategy.”

The Eunha-2 one-stage rocket fired in 2009 used the Nodong 2B missile, while military analysts believe that the propellant in the Eunha-3 missile is the significantly improved Nodong 2C missile.

With the North Korean rocket launch expected soon, South Korea, the US, and Japan have been rushing to prepare. On Dec. 4 (local time), South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security affairs Lim Sung-nam met with Glyn Davies, US State Department Special Representative for North Korea policy, at the Pentagon to discuss possible responses.

“The US and Korea have agreed to increase diplomatic pressure to keep North Korea from carrying out the missile launch,” Lim told reporters after the meeting. “We also agreed to step up efforts so that China and Russia will join in these efforts.”

When asked if Lim and his American counterparts had discussed financial sanctions of North Korea, he said, “We haven’t gone there yet”.

As it happened, Lim’s Japanese counterpart at the six-party talks, Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau director-general Sugiyama Shinsuke, was also visiting Washington. This allowed the chief six-party negotiators from Korea, Japan, and the US to have an “informal discussion,” Lim said, adding that they were all in agreement about the US and Korean position.

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