Military, other experts say N. Korea missile launch a failure

August 19th, 2009 SEOUL - South Korea Wednesday cancelled the launch of its first space rocket at the last minute owing to technical problems. With only eight minutes to go in the countdown, mission controllers decided to suspend the launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, which was to send a scientific satellite into orbit, the South Korean science ministry said.

July 5th, 2009 Recent developments suggests that defying US, North Korea has fired 7 ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Saturday, thus violating UN resolutions. The mounting tension between the two nation, US and North Korea resurfaced as the latter test-fired three short-mid ranged missiles as a mark of protest against the UN sanctions which were imposed on the nation.

July 3rd, 2009 Missile experts see Soviet parts in NKorean rocketWASHINGTON — With concerns rising about a possible North Korean long-range missile test this weekend, two independent scientists say the regime may be using an old Soviet ballistic missile to boost a rocket capable of reaching the West Coast of the United States. North Korea is not known to have nuclear warheads and faces years of research and testing before building such a reliable weapon.

June 19th, 2009 Officials: Hawaii anti-missile move a safeguardWASHINGTON — A new anti-missile system ordered for Hawaii is partly a strategy to deter North Korea from test-firing a long-range missile across the Pacific and partly a precaution against the unpredictable regime, military officials said Friday. The United States has no indication that North Korean missile technology has improved markedly since past failed launches, and military and other assessments suggest the communist nation probably could not hit the westernmost U.S.

April 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Following North Korea's launch of its controversial Taepodong-II missile, a majority of American voters have said that they would support a military approach to eliminate North Korea's nuclear capabilities. According to a Rasmussen Reports survey released Sunday morning, 57 percent of all voters support such a response, while just 15 percent oppose it.

April 3rd, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea has begun final preparations for its controversial long-range rocket launch and could fire the weapon as early as Saturday, South Korean media reported Friday. 'North Korea seems to have almost finished fuelling the rocket, so it is highly likely it will launch it,' The Korea Times quoted an anonymous government official as saying.

April 1st, 2009 THE HAGUE - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned North Korea that its plans to launch a missile is being considered as another provocation against Japan, and hence, North Korea should be ready to face the consequences. "It is an unfortunate and continuing example of provocation by the North Koreans.

March 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Japan has deployed three guided missile destroyers with orders to shoot down any debris from a North Korean rocket which might stray into Japanese airspace, a media report said. The US, Japan and South Korea meanwhile agreed that any launch would be immediately brought up in the UN Security Council, the Voice of America reported Saturday.

March 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - North Korea is loading a Taepodong rocket onto a launch pad ahead of what Pyongyang says is a plan to place a satellite into space, a US official confirmed Wednesday. 'It is out there,' the counter-proliferation official said.

March 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - An American military commander for the Pacific region has said that there is a high probability that the US could knock down a North Korean missile aimed at the United States. Navy Admiral Timothy J.

March 12th, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korea has warned that it is "fully combat ready" to retaliate against any attempt to thwart off its planned satellite launch. "Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," said the statement, carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that Washington has a range of options available to it to respond to North Korea should it proceed with a "provocative" long-range ballistic missile launch. A Fox News report quoted Clinton as telling reporters here: "We will discuss a response if we are not successful in convincing them not to go forward with what is a very provocative act." "There are a range of options available to take action against the North Koreans in the wake of a missile launch if they pursue that," she added.

February 27th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea has begun to test radar and other equipment in preparation for launching what it claims to be a satellite, South Korean media reports said Friday. Increased activity was reported from the Musudan-ri missile launch site in the north-east of the communist state as North Korea moves closer to what South Korea claims is an attempt to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

February 24th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea said Tuesday that it was preparing to launch a satellite on a domestically produced rocket after weeks of intelligence reports that said it was instead readying a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. A date for the launch was not given in the statement by the Korea Space Technology Committee published by the official Korean Central News Agency.

February 2nd, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea is preparing to test-fire an intercontinental missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, South Korean media reports said Tuesday. Intelligence agencies in South Korea and the US observed a train carrying a large cylindrical object that was believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile, the South Korea news agency Yonhap reported, citing an intelligence source.