IF NORTH Korea goes ahead with a planned missile launch, the international community will take steps to show Pyongyang it cannot act with impunity, the US president, Barack Obama, said yesterday.
“Should North Korea decide to take this action, we will work with all interested partners in the international community to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that they cannot threaten the safety and stability of other countries with impunity,” Mr Obama told a joint news conference after talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
North Korea is on the verge of launching a rocket that has raised tensions in Asia and angered neighbouring countries, which believe the reclusive communist state is using the launch to test long-range missile technology.
The long-anticipated launch of the Taepodong-2 comes at the end of a period of sabre-rattling by the isolated state, following stalled talks involving both Koreas, the US, Japan, China and Russia over the North’s nuclear ambitions.
The US has deployed warships with anti-missile systems, set up Patriot missile interceptors and established an early-warning system in the area.
Japan’s relations with North Korea are fraught and the Japanese are especially worried since the North said the route of the rocket would take it over Japanese territory and some debris could fall off its northern coast.
Tokyo said it did not intend to shoot down the rocket, which is expected to reach its territory within 10 minutes of the launch.
“It is a threat to the security of Japan,” said Yukio Takasu, Japan’s UN ambassador, adding that North Korea’s latest provocation was causing major anxiety and raising tensions both in the region and internationally.
North Korea’s only real ally, China, is also trying to stop the launch, while trying to maintain calm. President Hu Jintao urged Japan to remain calm.
Diplomats were working behind the scenes to stop the launch, which could take place as early as today.
North Korea insists it involves sending a communications satellite into orbit, but the US, South Korea and Japan say any missile test would violate a UN Security Council resolution banning the North from ballistic activity.
Pyongyang says it has the right to the peaceful use of space, although most military experts say the technology could be used to launch ballistic missiles capable of reaching Hawaii or even the western coast of the US.
Pyongyang is believed to have several nuclear warheads, although experts do not know if it has the technology to make them transportable by missile.
North Korea’s military has threatened immediate retaliation with a “thunderbolt of fire” if “even the slightest effort” is made to intercept the rocket.
If the launch proceeds, Japan and other countries are expected to request an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss possible punishment.