The U.S. government renewed its warnings on North Korea over its plan to launch a “communications rocket” but stopped short of indicating what response the North would receive in case the Stalinist nation puts its words into action, in violation of a U.N. Security Council mandate, Yonhap reported Saturday.
"As to what will happen and when things happen, I'll have to leave that for a future discussion," State Department deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters in a daily news briefing.
North Korea informed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of its schedule for a “satellite” launch sometime in early April. With that, the drawn-out antsy speculation over the North’s rocket plans is now increasingly becoming a matter of reality that only awaits countdown.
Many countries believe that the North’s “rocket” launch is actually a test of its long-range missile technology.
U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed concerns over the North's imminent rocket launch and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has talked about "a range of options" that include additional sanctions by the U.N. Security Council.
Clinton earlier this week proposed to hold missile talks with the North Koreans without elaborating on whether the talks should go along with the nuclear talks or separately.