SEOUL, South
Korea (AP) -- North Korea fired a long-range rocket Wednesday in its
second launch under its new leader, South Korean officials said,
defying warnings from the U.N. and Washington only days before South
Korean presidential elections.
South Korean
defense officials said the rocket was fired from a west coast launch pad
but there was no immediate word if the rocket was successful. North
Korea had indicated technical problems with the rocket and extended its
launch window. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing
office rules.
North Korea's Kim Jong Un took
power after his father Kim Jong Il died on Dec. 17 last year, and the
launch also comes about a month before President Barack Obama is
inaugurated for his second term.
The North
says the Unha rocket is meant to put a satellite in orbit. A similar
launch in April broke apart shortly after liftoff, and the condemnation
that attempt received is likely to be repeated. Washington sees the
launch as a cover for a test of technology for missiles that could be
used to strike the United States.
Rocket tests
are seen as crucial to advancing North Korea's nuclear weapons
ambitions. North Korea is thought to have only a handful of rudimentary
nuclear bombs. But Pyongyang is not yet believed capable of building
warheads small enough to mount on a missile that could threaten the
United States.
North Korea has spent decades
trying to perfect a multistage, long-range rocket. Experts say that
ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar
bodies, engines and other technology. This is the fifth attempt at a
long-range launch since 1998, when Pyongyang sent a rocket hurtling over
Japan. Previous launches of three-stage rockets weren't considered
successful.
Washington sees North Korea's
pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles as a threat to world
security and to its Asian allies, Japan and South Korea.
North
Korea under new leader Kim has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal
unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
