(2nd LD) Cloudy skies, moderate winds over N. Korean launch site: weather agency

(ATTN: UPDATES with aerospace institute expecting no major impact from wind, Monday
weather best for launch)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- Cloudy skies and moderately strong winds are expected
this weekend for North Korea's northeast region, where the country may soon
launch a rocket, South Korea's weather agency said Friday.
Wind speed in Musudan-ri, a mountainous village along the east coast in North
Hamgyong Province, where the launch could occur as early as Saturday, will be 6
to 10 meters per second, a range categorized as "moderately strong," the Korea
Meteorological Administration said in a statement. The wind direction will likely
blow out of the northwest or west, it said.
Only wind speeds above 15 meters per second can seriously affect a rocket launch,
according to the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Seoul.
Cloudy skies are also likely on Sunday, but winds will begin to slow in the
afternoon to around 3 to 4 meters per second on Monday.
The weather agency earlier said no strong winds are generally expected in the
Hamgyong region, but it adjusted its forecast specifically for the Musudan-ri
site, citing its location along the eastern edge of a mountain chain facing the
East Sea that is prone to strong winds.
"Winds blowing from the mountain top to bottom usually get strong, like strong
gusts of winds that are common in our eastern coast," Yoon Myeong-yeol, an
official for the weather watchdog, said.
The northeastern coastal region will be under a relatively low atmospheric
pressure trough on Saturday and Sunday, which usually leads to cloudy weather,
the agency said.
Rocket experts say the biggest meteorological factor that could decide the
success of a launch is the strength of wind gusts and the level of
electromagnetic waves in the air, which could block communications with the
rocket.
The weather is forecast to be relatively sunny on Monday as a high atmospheric
pressure system descends over the region, he said. Cloudy skies are again
expected on Tuesday and Wednesday, with wind speeds of up to 5 to 8 meters per
second, the weather agency said.
In terms of weather, Monday will be the best time to launch, it added.
But the weather agency cautioned that the accuracy of its forecast is limited due
to a lack of data. South Korea receives North Korean weather information from the
World Meteorological Organization, a U.N. weather watchdog, to which North
Korea's weather agency submits its data every three hours, and there is no direct
channel between the two Koreas, the agency spokesman, Lim Jang-ho, said.
North Korea said it will launch the communications satellite "Kwangmyongsong-2"
via carrier rocket Unha-2 during daylight hours between April 4 and 8. U.S.
defense officials said on Wednesday North Korea is fueling the rocket in a final
step toward the launch, a sign it could take place as early as Saturday.
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan suspect the satellite launch is a cover for
testing North Korea's long-range missile test and have threatened U.N. sanctions
if it goes ahead with the launch.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)