On Tuesday, North
Korea said that it had completed preparations to launch a satellite into orbit,
as South Korea and other Asian nations told their airlines and ships to change
their routes to avoid the North Korean rocket. South Korea had previously
refrained from issuing such directions while it joined its allies, particularly
the United States, in urging North Korea to cancel the launching of the
satellite. They said it violated a United Nations Security
Council resolution prohibiting North Korea from testing
intercontinental ballistic missile technology. Despite what South Korea and its
allies said, North Korea has remained disobedient, and has placed the
three-stage Unha-3 rocket at its launching pad. Since all the assembly and
preparations for the satellite are done, North Korea would not change its
plans. The launching jeopardizes a recent United States agreement with North
Korea in which the North agreed to suspend uranium enrichment, thereby slowing
its nuclear program,
in return for food aid.
American officials have reported that they explicitly said during negotiations
that North Korea could not launch satellites. Analysts see this satellite as a
cover for testing missile technology, and such missiles could eventually be
fitted to deliver nuclear weapons.
Since North Korea is
so determined to launch this satellite, and countries like the United States
and South Korea are determined to stop it, this could ultimately turn into a
war. Hopefully this will not happen, but the United States and North Korea have
been known to have some problems in the past. War is one thing we really need
to stay away from, especially over something like this, which is why I really
hope officials make the right choices when it comes to this decision.
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