'NK shows signs of disassembling rocket'
By Kim Young-jin
North Korea shows signs of disassembling a long-range rocket to fix technical problems that have forced the regime to extend its window for a launch, according to a report on Tuesday.
Satellite images show workers and engineers dismantling the three stage Unha-3 rocket, which was on a launch pad in the country’s northwest, Yonhap News reported, citing a senior military official.
"We detected signs of (North Korea) taking the rocket apart…It seems that the North is trying to fix technical problems," the source said.
Pyongyang is expected to go ahead with a launch after the repairs are completed, the source said.
The previous day, the North extended its schedule for the planned launch by one week to Dec. 29, citing technical difficulties in the first stage of the rocket, saying it was in the “final phase” of preparations.
The extension of the timetable, officials here believe, was due to problems in the directional control system of the first stage of the rocket.
Meanwhile, the South stepped up diplomacy with regional players in a bid to convince Pyongyang to not go through with the launch, which would be seen as test of ballistic missile technology.
As part of the brisk diplomacy, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov will arrive in Seoul Wednesday. He will meet with Lim Sung-nam, Seoul’s chief nuclear negotiator. On Monday, Kim Bong-hyun, deputy minister for multilateral and global affairs, will travel to Beijing for talks with senior officials on the potential launch.
Beijing, the North’s closest ally, and Moscow, with which Pyongyang has ties, are seen as having some leverage with the Kim Jong-un regime. Both are part of the six-party framework that seeks to convince the North to relinquish its nuclear weapons program.
Seoul has been busy working to convince Pyongyang to call off the launch, which it says it is cover for a ballistic missile test that violates U.N. resolutions implemented after the North's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi discussed the possible launch over the phone Monday. Nuland said the sides were working “closely” on the matter.
Twenty-six nations, including the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have urged the North against the move, according foreign ministry officials.
Seoul has hinted that the outgoing Lee Myung-bak administration will seek to make the North feel a deeper pinch for its actions, including seeking to freeze any remaining international bank accounts it uses.
It remains to be seen how compelling an argument any country can make to North Korea, which is busy bolstering the power of its young leader Kim Jong-un.
Analysts say that the move could be aimed at shoring up Kim’s support among the military elite, and that he may need something to show some developments to his people. Since taking power he has promised to improve living conditions.
Should Pyongyang go through with the launch, watchers will watch closely Beijing’s reaction as it could be a barometer for how it will handle its communist ally under new leader Xi Jinping.
China shielded Pyongyang from sanctions for its 2010 military attacks against the South. But following the North’s failed rocket launch in April, Beijing agreed to a U.N. Security Council statement that warned its neighbor of further punitive measures if it carried out another launch.