ID :
60834
Sat, 05/16/2009 - 05:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/60834
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea's rocket launch extended missile range: Defense Ministry+
N. Korea's rocket launch extended missile range: Defense Ministry+
TOKYO, May 15 Kyodo -
North Korea's rocket launch last month has helped extend the range of its
ballistic missiles, and the country is likely to make more progress down the
road in developing such missiles through a close examination of the latest
event, the Defense Ministry said in a report on Friday.
In a separate report released the same day, the ministry has also determined
that a succession of mistakes within Japan's defense apparatus resulted in
erroneously alerting the public about a rocket launch one day before it
actually occurred.
''It's extremely important to determine that (North Korea's rocket launching)
poses threats,'' Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told a news conference after
the reports were released.
While saying the ministry has worked on building a ballistic missile shield, he
admitted that the ministry alone cannot cope with the threats posed by North
Korea.
''It's important first to make efforts to prevent (North Korea) from launching
(missiles) and to do so while sharing concerns within the six-party talks (on
ending the North's nuclear program) and with the United Nations,'' Hamada said.
The first report analyzed the launching of a rocket on April 5 that Pyongyang
says successfully put a satellite into orbit. Japan and other countries dispute
the claim, saying it was meant to test North Korea's long-range ballistic
missile technology.
According to the report, the rocket used was a two-stage Taepodong-2 long-range
ballistic missile, or its improved version that possibly has a propulsion
device attached to its warhead as the third stage, judging from Pyongyang's
missile development records.
The propulsion device of the first stage apparently fell into the Sea of Japan
about 320 kilometers off Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan, or about 540
km from the launch site, after being separated, the report said.
The second and third stages, if there was a third as North Korea claims,
apparently fell into the Pacific Ocean after traveling more than 3,000 km from
the launch pad in Musudan-ri in northeastern North Korea, it said.
Both the first and the remaining stages fell into the sea roughly within the
perimeters marked by the North beforehand as areas ships and planes should keep
away from between April 4 and 8, according to the report.
The ministry is not saying exactly how the remaining stages fell into the sea
so as not to benefit North Korea, which may lack such information and could use
it to enhance its ballistic missile technology, a ministry official said.
Contrary to Pyongyang's claim, the rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit
because no object has been found to be orbiting the Earth as a result of the
launch and the rocket did not appear to have reached speeds necessary to put a
satellite into orbit, according to the report.
No flat trajectory was observed after the rocket transitioned to its second
stage, the report also said, suggesting that there was no third stage that
carried a satellite into orbit.
Although it remains unclear whether North Korea really tried to put a satellite
into orbit, the angle of the trajectory the rocket took has the hallmark of
satellite-launching procedures, the official said.
The report noted that North Korea has roughly doubled the range of its
ballistic missiles in about a decade and warned that the latest event could
lead to enhancing the accuracy of its Rodong medium-range missile, which is
capable of striking Japan.
It also found that the progress the North has managed to make in ballistic
missile technology has increased the risks of further transfer of ballistic
missiles and their related technology to its friendly countries.
Meanwhile, the second report concluded that information on a rocket launch was
erroneously conveyed to the Japanese public on April 4 due to miscommunications
within the Air Self-Defense Force and its failure to make sure such information
had been received from a U.S. early warning satellite.
The report called for verifying a launch by using data from the satellite,
which Japan counts as the most credible source of such information, given that
even top Self-Defense Forces officers failed to corroborate launch information
before it got out.
The erroneous information, which was made public via the prime minister's
office, sowed a great deal of confusion among the public, who were on high
alert for falling rocket parts, and deeply embarrassed the government of Prime
Minister Taro Aso.
At 12:16 p.m., April 4, the Air Defense Operations Group of the Air
Self-Defense Force notified the force's Air Defense Command of a trace picked
up by Japanese surveillance radar, according to the report.
But a person who received the information at the command mistook it for a
detection by a U.S. early warning satellite, and announced it as ''SEW
received,'' which meant the launch information came from the satellite, the
report said.
Another person at the command then relayed the information to the SDF's Central
Command Post, where a managerial-post ministry official went on to announce it
with the word ''launch.''
A ministry liaison official at the prime minister's office who received the
information via a teleconference device then announced it to others at the
office twice, according to the report.
At 12:17 p.m., it dawned on those at the command post that no launch
information had been received from a U.S. early warning satellite, the report
said. The radar facility in Chiba had also lost the trace by then.
The report concluded that the error resulted from the miscommunication within
the ASDF's Air Defense Command and the failure at both the Air Defense Command
and the Central Command Post to verify the receipt of launch information from
an early warning satellite.
On Friday, Defense Minister Hamada renewed his apologies to the public for
causing confusion but said he will not discipline anyone over the matter.
''I gave stern warnings to those concerned right after the false report. It
would be troubling if I disciplined them further and had them end up cowering
and being unable to perform their duties,'' he said.
Some within the Defense Ministry and municipalities affected by the mishap,
however, have voiced doubts about the ministry's policy, saying the policy
comes off as too lenient to its own people relative to the concerns that
generated in the public.
==Kyodo
TOKYO, May 15 Kyodo -
North Korea's rocket launch last month has helped extend the range of its
ballistic missiles, and the country is likely to make more progress down the
road in developing such missiles through a close examination of the latest
event, the Defense Ministry said in a report on Friday.
In a separate report released the same day, the ministry has also determined
that a succession of mistakes within Japan's defense apparatus resulted in
erroneously alerting the public about a rocket launch one day before it
actually occurred.
''It's extremely important to determine that (North Korea's rocket launching)
poses threats,'' Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told a news conference after
the reports were released.
While saying the ministry has worked on building a ballistic missile shield, he
admitted that the ministry alone cannot cope with the threats posed by North
Korea.
''It's important first to make efforts to prevent (North Korea) from launching
(missiles) and to do so while sharing concerns within the six-party talks (on
ending the North's nuclear program) and with the United Nations,'' Hamada said.
The first report analyzed the launching of a rocket on April 5 that Pyongyang
says successfully put a satellite into orbit. Japan and other countries dispute
the claim, saying it was meant to test North Korea's long-range ballistic
missile technology.
According to the report, the rocket used was a two-stage Taepodong-2 long-range
ballistic missile, or its improved version that possibly has a propulsion
device attached to its warhead as the third stage, judging from Pyongyang's
missile development records.
The propulsion device of the first stage apparently fell into the Sea of Japan
about 320 kilometers off Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan, or about 540
km from the launch site, after being separated, the report said.
The second and third stages, if there was a third as North Korea claims,
apparently fell into the Pacific Ocean after traveling more than 3,000 km from
the launch pad in Musudan-ri in northeastern North Korea, it said.
Both the first and the remaining stages fell into the sea roughly within the
perimeters marked by the North beforehand as areas ships and planes should keep
away from between April 4 and 8, according to the report.
The ministry is not saying exactly how the remaining stages fell into the sea
so as not to benefit North Korea, which may lack such information and could use
it to enhance its ballistic missile technology, a ministry official said.
Contrary to Pyongyang's claim, the rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit
because no object has been found to be orbiting the Earth as a result of the
launch and the rocket did not appear to have reached speeds necessary to put a
satellite into orbit, according to the report.
No flat trajectory was observed after the rocket transitioned to its second
stage, the report also said, suggesting that there was no third stage that
carried a satellite into orbit.
Although it remains unclear whether North Korea really tried to put a satellite
into orbit, the angle of the trajectory the rocket took has the hallmark of
satellite-launching procedures, the official said.
The report noted that North Korea has roughly doubled the range of its
ballistic missiles in about a decade and warned that the latest event could
lead to enhancing the accuracy of its Rodong medium-range missile, which is
capable of striking Japan.
It also found that the progress the North has managed to make in ballistic
missile technology has increased the risks of further transfer of ballistic
missiles and their related technology to its friendly countries.
Meanwhile, the second report concluded that information on a rocket launch was
erroneously conveyed to the Japanese public on April 4 due to miscommunications
within the Air Self-Defense Force and its failure to make sure such information
had been received from a U.S. early warning satellite.
The report called for verifying a launch by using data from the satellite,
which Japan counts as the most credible source of such information, given that
even top Self-Defense Forces officers failed to corroborate launch information
before it got out.
The erroneous information, which was made public via the prime minister's
office, sowed a great deal of confusion among the public, who were on high
alert for falling rocket parts, and deeply embarrassed the government of Prime
Minister Taro Aso.
At 12:16 p.m., April 4, the Air Defense Operations Group of the Air
Self-Defense Force notified the force's Air Defense Command of a trace picked
up by Japanese surveillance radar, according to the report.
But a person who received the information at the command mistook it for a
detection by a U.S. early warning satellite, and announced it as ''SEW
received,'' which meant the launch information came from the satellite, the
report said.
Another person at the command then relayed the information to the SDF's Central
Command Post, where a managerial-post ministry official went on to announce it
with the word ''launch.''
A ministry liaison official at the prime minister's office who received the
information via a teleconference device then announced it to others at the
office twice, according to the report.
At 12:17 p.m., it dawned on those at the command post that no launch
information had been received from a U.S. early warning satellite, the report
said. The radar facility in Chiba had also lost the trace by then.
The report concluded that the error resulted from the miscommunication within
the ASDF's Air Defense Command and the failure at both the Air Defense Command
and the Central Command Post to verify the receipt of launch information from
an early warning satellite.
On Friday, Defense Minister Hamada renewed his apologies to the public for
causing confusion but said he will not discipline anyone over the matter.
''I gave stern warnings to those concerned right after the false report. It
would be troubling if I disciplined them further and had them end up cowering
and being unable to perform their duties,'' he said.
Some within the Defense Ministry and municipalities affected by the mishap,
however, have voiced doubts about the ministry's policy, saying the policy
comes off as too lenient to its own people relative to the concerns that
generated in the public.
==Kyodo
