NK prepares first stage of rocket

By Kim Young-jin

North Korea has prepared the first of three stages of a long-range rocket at a launch site in its northwest region, moving forward with what would be viewed as a defiant, government sources said Monday.

With the first stage complete, it will take three or four days to attach the final two, officials said.

Despite the move, Seoul started consultations with regional players to share information and see whether it was possible to convince Pyongyang to halt the launch, which is widely seen as a test of ballistic missile technology.

“At this stage we are trying to convince the North (to call off the launch) through routes such as China and the U.S.” an official said on condition of anonymity. “We are also talking about possible countermeasures and responses.”

It is the second time this year for the Kim Jong-un regime to put the region on edge with an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. Though the North says the devices are for science, the test is seen as a way to advance its nuclear weapons program and a violation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

The launch, announced Saturday and slated for between Dec. 10 and 22, has already raised tension in the region with Japan reportedly deploying surface-to-air missiles.

This year’s previous launch was condemned by the UNSC in a presidential statement. Officials here vow efforts to make the North feel a greater pinch from punitive measures this time around.

On Monday, Seoul’s chief nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam was set to meet with the Chinese, Russian and Japanese ambassadors, while vice foreign minister Ahn Ho-young met U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Sung Kim. Those countries are party to multilateral negotiations on denuclearizing the North.

Many doubt Pyongyang will scrap the plan, however, citing the North’s need to glorify its young leader Kim Jong-un who took over after his later father Kim Jong-il’s death on Dec. 17, 2011.

Kim has been busy consolidating power over the military through purges and, reportedly, executions, and a successful launch would be a major propaganda victory after the South was forced to delay the launch of its own space rocket last week.

The North’s launch could also be a way to show up the outgoing Lee Myung-bak administration, with which it has held icy ties. Analysts say it also sends a message to the international community that Pyongyang intends to push forward with its “military-first” policy.

During the previous launch in April, the 90-ton rocket appeared exploded shortly after liftoff, crashing into waters off the western South Korean coast. The Unha-3 rocket is a three-stage vehicle some 30 meters long.

Park and Moon slimmed down their campaigning schedules in preparation of the first of the three presidential debates expected to air on national television from 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Woo Sang-ho, Moon’s spokesman, read a statement expressing gratitude to Ahn for extending his support to Moon. However, his colleagues watching the news conference live on television were reacting to Ahn’s words with sighs and sarcastic laughter moments earlier.

“We are determined to repay Ahn’s support by being successfully in our efforts to change the government,” Woo said at Moon’s campaign headquarters in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.

The Saenuri Party offered a colorless reaction to Ahn’s public appearance.

“Former candidate Ahn Cheol-soo’s call for bridging the divided nation and bracing for further economic difficulties has been an agenda item that was consistently highlighted by the Saenuri Party and its candidate Park Geun-hye,” the party said in a statement.

During their talks to merge candidacies, Moon and Ahn frequently saw face-to-face but never eye-to-eye as they consistently quarreled about the method to select the single candidate between them.

The ill-tempered negotiations had liberal voters concerned about the chemistry between the two and all but assured that the union, or whatever it could be called, would be less than the sum of its parts.

Opinion surveys show that Moon is struggling to absorb even half of Ahn’s disillusioned supporters. Around 25 percent of Ahn’s supporters prefer Park over Moon, while the remainder remains undecided.