Kim Jong Un Visits Military Science Exhibition and Attends Magic Show

Kim Jong Un watches a firearms demonstration during a tour of the KPA Military Science and Technology Exhibition. Also in this image are: VMar Kim Jong Gak (L), VMar Choe Ryong Hae (2nd L), VMar Hyon Chol Hae and Jang Song Taek (Photo: KCNA)

 

Kim Jong Un looks at a star-shaped stencil. Also seen in attendance is KWP Deputy Director Hwang Pyong So (6th L) (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

DPRK state media reported on Friday (27 April) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) and members of the central leadership visited the Korean People’s Army [KPA] 26th Military Science and Technology Exhibition.  KCNA reports:

He was accompanied by Choe Ryong Hae, Ri Yong Ho, Kim Jong Gak, Jang Song Thaek, Kim Yong Chun, Hyon Chol Hae, Son Chol Ju, Pak Jae Gyong, Kim Yong Chol, Ri Jae Il, Kim Myong Guk, Yun Tong Hyon, Jon Chang Bok and Pak Jong Chon.

He first learned about the reconstruction of the exhibition on a modern basis.

He praised the soldier-builders for having splendidly reconstructed the exhibition by successfully building its exterior and interior to suit its characteristics as an exhibition of science and technology by their own efforts and with indigenous technology.

He expressed satisfaction over the fact that the successful reconstruction and modernization of the exhibition as required by the Songun era has created an important center for widely studying and introducing the military scientific and technological achievements made thanks to the direct initiative of President Kim Il Sung and under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il.

Then he, conducted by officials, made the rounds of the first and second floors and outdoor exhibition to acquaint himself in detail with the scientific and technological work within the KPA.

It is very good that service personnel, scientists, technicians and researchers of the KPA have made through their researches a lot of valuable inventions and devices urgently needed for the combat preparations of the KPA by displaying collective wisdom and creative ingenuity and presented them to the current exhibition, he said.

Seeing the inventions and devices presented to the exhibition, I can realize that the KPA is working hard to settle scientific and technological issues related to the combat preparations true to the intention of the WPK to push back the frontiers of latest science and technology, he noted.

He repeatedly praised the scientists, technicians, researchers and service personnel of the KPA for their laudable achievements, noting that they have conducted strenuous scientific researches conducive to stepping up the combat preparations of the KPA and improving the standard of soldiers and people’s living by displaying their burning revolutionary enthusiasm and creative ingenuity in the past.

He gave precious instructions for further developing science and technology within the KPA as required by the new century.

He underscored the need to get mastery of latest science and technology in order to ensure that the level of military science and technology of the KPA surpasses the worldwide level of military science and technology and they will develop fast.

The KPA should display according to different sectors inventions and devices highly estimated and selected stage by stage in different sectors including units at various levels and military academies and put the operation of the exhibition on a normal basis as it has been wonderfully rebuilt and modernized.

He expressed expectation and conviction that the current exhibition would mark an important occasion in making a positive contribution to putting spurs to the development of science and technology of the KPA, rounding off the combat preparations and improving the standard of soldiers and people’s living.

Kim Jong Un inspects a display while touring the KPA Military Science and Technology Exhibition. Also seen in attendance in this image are: VMar Ri Yong Ho (L) and Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (3rd L) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Kim Jong Un is is briefed about a firearms display. In this image are: Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (2nd L), Gen. Kim Yong Chol (4th R), VMar Kim Jong Gak (3rd R) and VMar Kim Yong Chun (R) (Photo: KCNA)

A performer of the KPA Circus, during its magic show "For All Eternity" (Photo: KCNA)

KJU was also reported to have attended a magic show entitled “For All Eternity,” given by the KPA Circus.  KCNA reports:

Put on the stage were numbers of illusionary and movie jugglery.

The performers presented tricks of making optical changes of objects in space-time.

Kim Jong Un set forth tasks which would serve as guidelines for further developing Juche-oriented acrobatic art, a powerful means for politico-ideological, cultural and emotional education of people.

Enjoying the performance were Choe Ryong Hae, Ri Yong Ho, Kim Jong Gak, Jang Song Thaek, Kim Yong Chun, Hyon Chol Hae, Choe Pu Il, Kim Yong Chol and labor innovators of major industrial establishments, teachers and researchers of universities, officials of dongs of districts, exemplary heads of their people’s

Science and Technology Festival Opened

DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim (2nd R) tours the Science and Technology Festival on Friday, 27 April in Pyongyang (Photo: KCNA)

On Friday (27 April) DPRK state media reported that the a Science and Technology Festival opened at the Three Revolutions Exhibition Hall.  DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim and KWP Secretary Choe Tae Bok, among other central leadership, attended the opening ceremony.  The festival was announced   KCNA reports:

The festival is divided into 13 panels of light industry, agriculture, foodstuff, railway transport, energy, construction and building materials, basic science, state of the art and others.

Presented to the festival are achievements of more than 200 units in the process of putting the production processes on a modern and scientific basis by pushing back the frontiers of latest science and technology together with many research findings of scientists, technicians and working people highly appreciated at local festivals.

Attending the ceremony were Choe Yong Rim, premier of the Cabinet, Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the C.C., the Workers’ Party of Korea, Ri Ja Bang, chairman of the State Science and Technology Commission, officials concerned, scientists, technicians and working people.

Meanwhile, 372 km (231 miles) northeast of the Three Revolutions Exhibition Hall, excavation and construction work proceeds.  The ongoing activity suggests that preparations are under way for the DPRK to conduct a third nuclear detonation at its test site in P’unggye-ri, Kilchu County, North Hamgyo’ng Province.  Kyodo reported on 25 April that Russia raised its alert level on the expectation that the DPRK’s nuclear test would be within the week.  38 North reports:

The latest imagery, taken April 18, 2012, documents continuing preparations for an upcoming nuclear test and shows a train of mining carts on top of the spoil pile and random unidentified structures or objects on or near the piles (see figure 3). Based on an examination of previous satellite photos, their position and number appear to vary on a day-to-day basis, indicating the continued movement of vehicles, structures and other objects on or near the spoil piles at the mouth of the test tunnel. According to one press report on April 21, the North had completed the removal of the large spoil pile near the test site, probably to seal the tunnel for the explosion. However, this imagery shows the size of the pile largely unchanged. Whether the test device has been emplaced in the chamber and stemming with other material has been completed, remains unclear.

Images of a tunnel entrance (top) and tunnel leading to the nuclear detonation site. These images appeared in episode 4 of the 2009 Korea Film Studios' feature The Country I Saw, which included a depiction of the 25 May 2009 nuclear test

The DPRK’s third nuclear test may not be as imminent as some in the neighborhood foresee.  Korea Herald reports:

Pollack was in Seoul last week to attend the 2012 Asan Plenum, a three-day international forum on global challenges that kicked off last Wednesday. The annual forum was organized by local think tank Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Pyongyang may face a tougher response from its crucial patron China should it take another destabilizing action following the recent rocket launch, he pointed out. In an unusual move, Beijing agreed at the U.N. Security Council to condemn Pyongyang on April 16, three days after the botched launch.

“They may also be weighing the implications. This time, China would really impose some severe costs on them. We have the Chinese vice foreign minister in the forum, giving some very forceful remarks,” he said.

“They will test it at some point, but not now yet,” Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, told The Korea Herald.

“The reason might not be technical, but political that another nuclear test would probably be damaging to North Korea from the point of view of seeing a future South Korean president more aligned with their interests.”

“He did not say a nuclear test, but you could see what he was talking about to make clear that China’s disapproval of any such third test would be very strong, potentially very harsh.”

Pollack paid particular attention to the fact that Pyongyang has not been explicit yet about its preparation for a nuclear test while it gave some explanation before their past nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

“There has been no explicit threat to test the nuclear weapon. The other thing I want to emphasize that in both 2006 and 2009, they developed almost what we would call an immediate campaign over a period of time,” he said.

“I don’t know, it was perhaps, weeks or months, but it was trying to build the case for why they would then proceed to a nuclear test.”

Although it would not be easy for Beijing to change its core policy toward its impoverished ally considering that it favors stability on the peninsula, China could make some adjustments in it to protect its national interests, he argued.

“The Chinese are not, in my own view, likely to discard North Korea, but under some circumstances, it is possible that they might really try to put limits on the relationship if North Korea is affecting their Chinese vital interests,” he said.

“China’s larger worries concern North Korea undertaking actions to which the ROK (Republic of Korea) would respond this time, and then, this triggers an environment that draws in both the U.S. and China on the peninsula.”

Rocket on Launch Pad

Officials of the Korea Committee for Space Technology [KCST] have placed the U’nha-3 carrier rocket on its launch pad at the Sohae Launch Facility in Tongch’ang-ri, Ch’o'lsan County, North P’yo’ngan Province.  U’nha-3 was unveiled to visiting foreign media, along with what was said to be the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite [KMS-3].  Xinhua reports:

The rocket for Pyongyang’s planned satellite launch later this month has been installed on the launch pad, Xinhua correspondents saw at the launch site Sunday.

A official said at the scene that the Unha-3 rocket, which is slated to blast off during the April 12-16 window and send an “earth observation” satellite into space, is yet to be fuelled.

Xinhua was among the foreign media invited to visit the launching station, control and command center and some other places.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced last month its plan to launch the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite to mark the 100th birthday of late leader Kim Il Sung, which has triggered global concerns.

Daily Yomiuri reports:

The injection of liquid fuel will start after the second- and third-stage units are assembled, the sources said.

Despite strong opposition by Japan, the United States, South Korea and other countries to the plan, the latest development shows North Korea has entered the final stage of preparations for the launch.

The setting up of the first-stage booster was confirmed by analysis of data from a U.S. reconnaissance satellite.

According to the sources, the first-stage booster was assembled vertically on the launchpad, which is about 50 meters high, at the new missile base in Tongchang-ri completed last year.

U.S. and South Korean authorities believe the second- and third-stage units will be set up by early this week, followed by the injection of liquid fuel from an underground facility.

The liquid fuel used by North Korea is said to be highly corrosive, making it difficult to store in a fuel tank for a long time after its injection, according to military experts. For this reason, the fuel will be injected a few days before the launch.

“No delays have been seen thus far, from the transportation of the missile body to the base to its assembly. We believe the launch will be carried out as announced,” a source said.

North Korea announced it will launch the rocket in the period from April 12 to 16.

Starting Wednesday, North Korea is scheduled to hold a series of political events, including a representatives’ meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea. During this meeting, the North’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, is expected to assume the hermetic country’s highest posts, such as the general secretary of the party.

Another diplomatic source said North Korea will “fire the missile by April 15, [to celebrate the] 100th [anniversary of the] birthday of late President Kim Il Sung…and the completion of the power succession.”

Meanwhile, the launch of the U’nha-3 and Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite may not be the only test carried out by the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) Central Committee’s Machine-Building Industry Department and its subordinate organizations, the Second Economy Commission and Second Natural Sciences Academy.  South Korean officials say that ongoing excavation and construction activities near P’unggye-ri, Kilchu County, North Hamgyo’ng Province suggest the DPRK may conduct a third underground nuclear detonation, likely HEU.  Yonhap reports:

Satellite images show the communist nation digging a new tunnel underground in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country’s northeast, where it conducted two previous nuclear tests, first in 2006 and then in 2009.

The construction is believed to be in its final stage, the official said.

“North Korea is making clandestine preparations for a third nuclear test at Punggye-ri in North Hamkyong Province, where it conducted two nuclear tests in the past,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Commercial satellite imagery showed piles of earth and sand at the entrance of a tunnel in the Punggye-ri site. The soil is believed to have been brought to the site to plug the tunnel, one of final steps before carrying out a nuclear test blast.

A nuclear test following a long-range missile test fits the pattern of North Korean behavior.

In 2006, the provocative regime carried out its first-ever nuclear test, three months after the test-firing of its long-range Taepodong-2 rocket. The second nuclear test in 2009 came just one month after a long-range rocket launch.

The North says it will fire off its Unha-3 long-range rocket between April 12-16 to put what it claims is a satellite into orbit. But regional powers believe the launch is a pretext to disguise a ballistic missile test banned under a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Sources said the North is believed to have put the rocket on a launch pad in the country’s northwest on Friday.

The North’s nuclear and missile programs have long been a regional security concern. The country is believed to have advanced ballistic missile technology, though it is still not clear whether it has mastered the technology to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.

DPRK Foreign Ministry Issues Statement on Suspension of US Aid

DPRK Foreign Ministry (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) (Photo: Google image)

The DPRK’s Foreign Ministry described the suspension of nutritional assistance by the United States as an “overreaction” to the planned mid-April launch of U’nha-3 with the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite  The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman also said that the US “would not send its experts and also forced other countries not to send one,” a reference to the DPRK’s invitation to “experienced experts” to observe the U’nha-3 launch.  KCNA reports:

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK gave the following answer to a question raised by KCNA Saturday as regards the U.S. moves to exploit the DPRK’s planned launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 for meeting its sinister political and military purposes:

The U.S. overreaction to the DPRK’s plan to launch scientific and technological satellite for peaceful purposes has gone beyond the limit.

The U.S. has so far insisted that it does not relate humanitarian issue with the political issue. But it responded to the DPRK’s planned satellite launch with the announcement to stop following through on its commitment to food aid. This would be a regrettable act of scrapping the DPRK-U.S. agreement in its entirety as it is a violation of the core articles of the February 29 DPRK-U.S. agreement.

The DPRK extended invitation to satellite experts to visit the launching station to show the sincerity of the DPRK as regards the peaceful satellite launch in a transparent manner. But the U.S. clarified that it would not send its experts and also forced other countries not to send one.

This stands in sharp contrast to its previous insistence that the DPRK should accept inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure the transparency of its nuclear activities.

What the U.S. fears is the objective confirmation of the peaceful nature of the DPRK’s satellite launch.

It has its own political and military objective in describing the DPRK’s satellite launch as a long-range missile launch.

By describing the DPRK’s “long-range missile capabilities” as a “threat to the U.S. mainland”, the U.S. seeks to justify its missile defense system, which is opposed by all the countries in Northeast Asia, and use it as a pretext for pressing forward the MD.

The path chosen by the U.S. would harass peace and stability in Northeast Asia including the Korean Peninsula and spark off fresh cold war.

The DPRK has not yet reached such a point as to discuss the severity and gravity of the consequences to be entailed by the U.S. wrong option.

It just hopes that the U.S. would courageously accept peaceful satellite launch by a sovereign state, though belatedly, and prove in practice its words that it has no hostility toward the DPRK.

Kyodo reports:

North Korea warned the United States on Saturday that suspending food aid to the country under a bilateral food-for-nuclear deal would amount to scrapping the agreement “in its entirety.”

The deal, struck in Beijing and announced Feb. 29, commits North Korea to implement moratoriums on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and uranium enrichment activities in exchange for 240,000 tons of U.S. food aid.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry sounded the warning in criticizing the United States for signaling the suspension of planned food aid if Pyongyang goes ahead with the launch of a “satellite” in mid-April that Washington says violates a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution.

The United States “responded to the DPRK’s planned satellite launch with the announcement to stop following through on its commitment to food aid. This would be a regrettable act of scrapping the DPRK-U.S. agreement in its entirety as it is a violation of the core articles of the February 29 DPRK-U.S. agreement,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korea says it plans to launch an “earth observation satellite” between April 12 and 16, prompting condemnation from Washington and other countries.

Critics say the planned satellite launch by a carrier rocket is a covert test of a long-range ballistic missile in defiance of the U.N. resolution, which bans North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the United States rejected an invitation from North Korea to send satellite experts to the launch site to ensure transparency in the planned launch.

“The U.S. clarified that it would not send its experts and also forced other countries not to send one,” the spokesman was quoted as saying. “What the U.S. fears is the objective confirmation of the peaceful nature of the DPRK’s satellite launch.”

The spokesman urged Washington to “courageously accept a peaceful satellite launch by a sovereign state, though belatedly, and prove in practice its words that it has no hostility toward the DPRK.”

North Korea says the satellite launch, timed to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung, is needed for the country’s economic development.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry said last week that preparations for the satellite launch have entered a “full-fledged stage of action.”

Gas Up the KMS-3

Commemorative postage stamp of the Kwangmyo'ngso'ng-2/U'nha-2 launch in April 2009 (Photo: KCNA)

Technicians from the Korea Committee for Space Technology [KCST] continue preparations for the launch of the U’nha-3 carrier rocket which will reportedly carry payload, Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 [KMS-3] satellite.  38 North provides a detailed image analysis of the ongoing activities at Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongch’ang-ri, North P’yo’ngan Province:

Launch pad preparation seems to be progressing on schedule with fuel and oxidizer being delivered to the storage buildings for the Unha-3’s first stage. The next step will be the movement of the first stage to the pad—probably on March 30 or 31—followed by the second stage a day or two later. The third stage and payload will follow probably by April 2 or 3. Several other major events will take place after the Unha-3 is completely assembled. Unless some major setback occurs, the North Koreans will be able to launch during the declared launch window starting April 12, 2012.

Complementing the piece, image analysis expert Nick Hansen produced a timeline on U’nha-3′s launch preparations and the DPRK’s previous rocket (ICBM) launches:

It is no secret that North Korea plans to launch a satellite in a window between April 12-16, 2012 to coincide with the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the country. It also plans to use an Unha-3 booster rocket launched from a new space port (Sohae Satellite Launching Station, a.k.a. Tongchang-dong Space Launch Center). The real secret is how North Korea plans to accomplish this task in the nearly three weeks left before the announced launch window. To provide some context on a probable timeline, this article briefly discusses the observed activities leading up to the Unha launch on July 4, 2006 and the Unha-2 launch on April 5, 2009, both from its old Tonghae Test Center.

Commercial imagery and open source reporting has shown that the launch campaigns of both 2006 and 2009 from Tonghae took about 2.25 months. Therefore, if the North Koreans are following anything like their previous schedule, the new campaign should be well underway. Imagery as of March 29, 2012, indicates that preparations have indeed begun. If a launch is really planned, it can be assumed that the Unha-3 and the satellite Kwangmyongsong-3, identified as an earth resources mission, will soon be inside the assembly building.

AFP reports:

North Korea has begun fuelling a rocket for a launch that the West considers a missile test, a Japanese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a source “close to the government” in Pyongyang.

“The launch is coming closer. The possibility is high that the launch date will be set for April 12 or 13,” the source said according to the Tokyo Shimbun in a report from Seoul.

It cited the source as saying that North Korea had begun injecting liquid fuel into the rocket.

The paper also said a diplomatic source had confirmed that North Korea has moved the rocket to a launch pad in Tongchang-ri in the country’s far northwest.

The report came after North Korea insisted Tuesday it would go ahead with what it says is a satellite launch, snubbing a call from US President Barack Obama to drop the plan and accusing him of a “confrontational mindset”.

DPRK media interviewed a deputy (vice) director of the KCST’s Space Development Department who provided a general explanation about the satellite, its equipment and the official motivation for the launch.  KCNA reports:

There were questions about the data of the working satellite to be launched on the occasion of the significant Day of the Sun and the visits by foreign experts and reporters.

Question: What is the mission of Kwangmyongsong-3, first working satellite in the DPRK?

Answer: Kwangmyongsong-3 as an earth observation satellite will assess the distribution of forests and natural resources of the DPRK, the level of natural disaster, the crop estimate, etc. and collect data necessary for weather forecast, natural resources prospecting and others.

Q: What is its capacity?

A: Kwangmyongsong-3 has video camera mounted on it and will send observation data including pictures to the General Satellite Control and Command Centre.

It weighs 100kg and will circle along the solar synchronous orbit at 500km high altitude. Its life is two years.

Q: The DPRK invited foreign experts and reporters to the satellite launch. What can they observe?

A: They will go to the Sohae Satellite Launching Station to witness carrier rocket Unha-3 on the launching pad and Kwangmyongsong-3. They will watch the preparation for the launch of the carrier rocket with satellite on it in the General Launch Command Centre. They will also visit the General Satellite Control and Command Centre in Pyongyang and see the satellite being launched in a relevant place.

We will organize special visits going beyond the international usage to show with transparency the peaceful, scientific and technological nature of the satellite.

The U’nha-3 is not the only missile being tested on the DPRK’s west coast this spring.  South Korean media reported that on Thursday (29 March) that two KN-01 anti-ship missiles were tested.  KBS World reports:

The official said Friday that the North launched two KN-01 surface-to-ship missiles with a range of 120 kilometers from North Pyongan Province.

The official said the missile tests are not considered to be related to the North’s plan to launch a long-range rocket next month and were apparently carried out to test the missiles’ capacities. However, the official added the tests could be interpreted as the North’s protest over the recent expansion of South Korean and U.S. war vessels deployed in the Yellow Sea.

North Korea test-fired three KN-02 surface-to-surface missiles in the East Sea earlier in January and test-fired two short-range missiles off its eastern coast on December 19th last year, the day Kim Jong-il’s death was announced.

Japan’s Self Defense Forces [SDF] have been ordered to shoot down any parts of the U’nha-3 which might impact Japanese territory.  Japan will also deploy surface-to-air missiles [SAM] as the launch approaches.  Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was the only  international leader to explicitly remark on the U’nha/KMS-3 launch during the proceedings of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul earlier this week.

Asahi Japan Watch reports:

Pyongyang says it is planning to launch an Earth observation satellite between April 12 and 16, prompting Japan to mobilize its forces ahead of the launch. It is strongly suspected that the launch is nothing but a ruse to test a long-range ballistic missile.

On March 28, an RC-135U reconnaissance plane, designed to collect electronic intelligence, arrived at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture.

Surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles have already been deployed at Kadena on a permanent basis, and the Air SDF is continuing with preparations for the deployment of PAC-3 missiles in other locations around Japan. Actual deployment was to get under way from March 30.

The Maritime SDF will also deploy three Aegis-class destroyers to waters off Okinawa and in the Sea of Japan to track the rocket/missile.

The PAC-3 missiles will be deployed in three locations in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area as well as four locations in Okinawa, including the Miyakojima and Ishigakijima islands. The missiles are expected to be transported by sea from SDF bases in Tsu and Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, via Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Because the North Korean missile is only expected to traverse the islands of Okinawa, there is thought to be a very low chance of any parts of it falling on Japanese territory.

Aegis-class destroyers successfully shot down ballistic missiles in three out of four tests by the MSDF. Two tests of PAC-3 missiles have also been successful.

Hideaki Kaneda, a former senior MSDF officer who is a director at the Okazaki Institute, said: “Japan has the ability to make an appropiate response against missiles similar in type to the Rodong (of North Korea).”

However, the PAC-3 missile only has a range of several dozens of kilometers for intercepting ballistic missiles. If the North Korean ballistic missile approaches Japanese airspace, it would likely herald some sort of malfunction.

Military analyst Kazuhisa Ogawa said: “If the missile starts to drop out of the sky due to a malfunction, its flight route would become unstable because of air resistance. That would make it much harder to shoot it down (with an interceptor missile).”

Another military commentator, Isaku Okabe, admitted the difficulty of shooting down a missile that had gone off course, but he said: “The route is over a large area of water, so there is a small chance that the missile will fall on land.”

Yanggang (Ryanggang) Provincial Party Secretary Kim Hui Taek (L)

Meanwhile, Daily NK citing sources in Yanggang Province, reports that Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] deputies have been ordered to arrive in Pyongyang on or around 5 April, eight (8) days prior to the convocation of the 5th session (plenum; plenary meeting) of the 12th SPA on 13 April.  It is speculated in the article that the 4th Party Conference (Meeting of Party Representatives) might occur prior to the SPA, due to overlapping (dual) membership.  Given the scheduling of the SPA session and the projected dates of the U’nha-3 launch, the DPRK central leadership may be looking for a propulsive pretext to convene the party conference.

The unusually long eight day lead-in time appears to suggest that the 4th Chosun Workers’ Party Delegates’ Conference is going to occur sometime between the 5th and 12th, to be followed by the SPA on the 13th in order to allow all political formalities to be completed before the regime turns its attention to celebrating the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth on the 15th.

The exact schedule is a guessing game because although the Politburo revealed official plans to hold the 4th Delegates’ Conference “in mid-April” on February 20th, a precise date has still not been officially released.

A source from Hyesan in Yangkang Province revealed news of the order to assemble in conversation with Daily NK today, adding that “Nine people will depart from Hyesan by train on April 1st as SPA delegates, including Provincial Party Chief Secretary Kim Hi Taek, the principal of Kim Jong Suk College of Education and the low-level Party secretary from Hyesan Textile Factory.”

According to the source, “There has been no order handed down about the Delegates’ Conference, but since they have told delegates to assemble early for the SPA, the word on the street is that the Delegates’ Conference will come first.”

Many of the ‘lawmakers’ in the rubberstamp SPA are also likely to be Party delegates as well, meaning that holding the two events in very quick succession is logistically beneficial.

Delegates will travel on special trains laid on to transport people and freight on the behalf of the state. In the case of delegates from Hyesan, the train will depart from the border city before stopping at Kilju in North Hamkyung Province and passing through Kim Chaek, Simpo and Hamheung before stopping at Suncheon and Pyongsung in South Pyongan Province en route to the capital. If all goes according to plan, the journey should take 22 hours, though the April 1st departure date is a clear reflection of how power limitations can affect travel in rural North Korea.

In the meantime, Chosun Central News Agency and Rodong Shinmun have both been reporting on local conferences held to ‘elect’ delegates to the 4th Delegates’ Conference, though these are not competitive elections. So far, Kim Jong Eun has been officially adopted as a delegate by the Chosun People’s Army and the Party in South Pyongan Province and the capital, Pyongyang.

If the Supreme People’s Assembly does occur after the 4th Delegates’ Conference, Kim Jong Eun will first formally take power in the Party and then in the administrative sector, presumably becoming Chosun Workers’ Party chief secretary and chairman of the Central Military Committee before then becoming head of state.

DPRK Invites Journalists and Experts to Observe Kwangmyongsong-3 Launch

Kim Jong Un (C) visits the KPA Strategic Rocket Forces Command (Photo: KCNA)

The Korea Committee for Space Technology reports in DPRK media that it officially notified several relevant international organizations of its intention to launch the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3.  KCNA reports:

The relevant bodies of the DPRK sent necessary information to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and others according to international regulations and procedures as part of the preparations for the launch of earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong-3.

The Korean Committee for Space Technology will invite experienced foreign experts on space science and technology and journalists to visit the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the General Satellite Control and Command Centre and other places and observe its launch.

Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun conveyed his country’s concerns over the launch to DPRK Ambassador to the PRC Ji Jae Ryong.  Xinhua reports:

The U.S. Defense Department warned Friday that the launch of a long-range rocket would violate a series of UN resolutions and considered it as a “destabilizing behavior” to the Asia-Pacific region.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby urged the DPRK leadership to “reconsider this decision and to conform to their obligations under those sanctions.”

“We continue to operate every day with our South Korean counterparts and we hold firmly to our alliance obligations and to security on the Korean Peninsula,” said Kirby.

He added that the Defense Department is “very comfortable with the full range of military capabilities we have at our disposal in the Asia Pacific region and in and around the Korean peninsula.”

The U.S. State Department also said the launch plan could jeopardize nascent efforts to restart nuclear negotiations with the DPRK and made it “very hard” to go forward with its planned food assistance to the DPRK.

“Were we to have the launch, it would create obviously tensions and that would make the implementation of any kind of nutritional agreement quite difficult,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, hinting that the DPRK’s latest move was “an abrogation of that agreement.”

According to a deal reached between Pyongyang and Washington in Beijing late last month, the United States agreed to provide 240,000 tons of food as aid to the DPRK in exchange for Pyongyang’s promise to impose a moratorium on nuclear tests and missile launches, and allow checks by international nuclear inspectors.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed the DPRK’s launch plan as “highly provocative,” warning that such a launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with the DPRK’s recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches.

Clinton urged the DPRK to “adhere to its international obligations, including all relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” adding that Washington is consulting closely with its international partners on the next steps.

Meanwhile, Russia said it was also seriously concerned about Pyongyang’s rocket launch plan, urging it not to proceed with it.

Russia’s foreign ministry called on the DPRK not to oppose itself to the international community, and create additional difficulties for restarting the six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Moscow also said the resumption of the long-stalled talks and diplomatic solutions are the only viable option available to both terminate the nuclear problems in the region and to lift the UN sanctions against the country, which is prohibited from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology.

However, the ministry also said Moscow had never denied the DPRK’s sovereign right to pursue peaceful space programs and urged all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint.

The DPRK’s neighboring country South Korea Friday also voiced its “serious concern” over the plan, calling it a “grave provocation threatening the peace and security” on the Korean Peninsula as well as Northeast Asia.

The South Korean foreign ministry said it would work closely with related countries, including members of the six-party talks, to urge the DPRK to “immediately stop provocative act and abide by its international obligations.”

Also on Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is “seriously concerned” about the DPRK’s satellite launch.

In a statement, the UN chief called on Pyongyang to fully comply with the UN resolutions that ban any launch using ballistic missile technology.

China has also voiced its concern over the DPRK’s satellite launch plan.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, in a meeting with the DPRK Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong on Friday, expressed China’s worry over the matter, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Zhang exchanged views with Ji on China-DPRK ties and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, said the statement.

Zhang said China had taken note of the DPRK’s satellite plan as well as the reaction from the international community. China believes it is the common obligation and in common interests of all parties concerned to maintain the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, said the statement.

“We sincerely hope parties concerned stay calm and exercise restraint and avoid escalation of tension that may lead to a more complicated situation,” Zhang was quoted as saying.

On April 5, 2009, the DPRK conducted a similar launch, which, according to the country’s official KCNA news agency, successfully put a “Kwangmyongsong-2″ communications satellite into orbit. But some countries, including South Korea, Russia and the United States, believed the launch was a failure. The launch brought about criticism and tightened sanctions on the DPRK.

The DPRK insists its satellite launches are for peaceful and scientific purposes. The KCNA said in a report on Friday that the upcoming launch would greatly encourage the army and people of the DPRK in the building of a thriving nation and will offer an important occasion of putting the country’s technology of space use “for peaceful purposes on a higher stage.”

Iranian Parliament Speaker to visit DPRK (Postponed)

Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, address the 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on 19 July 2010 in Geneva (Photo: Flickr/IPU Conference Page)

UPDATE

Ali Larijani’s visit to east Asia has been postponed and will be rescheduled.  CNN reports:

Ali Larijani’s trips were intended to promote parliamentary cooperation.

“The time for Larijani’s visit has changed and we will announce the new time when it is determined,” said Hijatoleslam Hossein Sobhaninya, a member of the presiding board of parliament, according to Mehr.

In May, a report compiled by a U.N. panel of experts looking into Security Council violations by North Korea found the country continues to trade banned weapons technology with several nations, including Iran.

 

Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Ali Larijani will visit the DPRK for three (3) days beginning on 6 September, prior to traveling to China.  ICANA reports:

Hossein Sheikholeslam, international affairs advisor to Larijani told ICANA on Saturday that the Majlis speaker will leave Tehran for Pyongyang on Sunday, September 5 and will stay there for three days.

Larijani’s two-nation tour of East Asia will also take him to Beijing where he will hold talks with Chinese parliamentary and political officials.

Sheikholeslam noted that Larijani’s tour of China and North Korea is aimed at further promotion of parliamentary cooperation and relations. He will also discuss the latest developments in the region with Chinese and DPRK officials.

News of Larijani’s visit occurred as the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that the DPRK delivered simulation software and trained Iranian technicians during early 2011.  Reuters (via Jerusalem Post) reported:

The Sueddeutsche said the computer program, called Monte Carlo N-Particle Extended, or MCNPX 2.6.0., was used widely for civilian purposes but is subject to strict export controls because it can also be used to develop atomic bombs.

It is unclear how North Koreagot hold of the software.

The paper said a North Korean delegation travelled to Iran in February to train 20 Defense Ministry staff in the software.

The IAEA has voiced growing concern in the last year about possible military dimensions to Tehran’s nuclear program, saying it had received new informationincreasing such concerns.

On 21 July 2010, Larijani met SPA Chairman and CC KWP Secretary Choe Tae Bok (Choe T’ae-pok) on the sidelines of last year’s Conference of Speakers of Parliament held in Geneva.