Impoverished North Korea rejected international protests over its planned long-range rocket launch and said on Wednesday that it was injecting fuel as we speak,meaning it could blast off as early as Thursday. If all goes to plan,the launch,which North Koreas neighbours and the West say is a disguised ballistic missile test,will take a three-stage rocket over a sea separating the Korean peninsula from China before releasing a satellite into orbit. We dont really care about the opinions from the outside. This is critical in order to develop our national economy, said Paek Chang-ho,head of the satellite control centre at the Korean Committee of Space Technology. Once the refuelling has been completed,the North Koreans will have to inject chemicals into the rocket and these chemicals cause corrosion,which means the firing could come on Thursday,at the start of a five-day window announced already by Pyongyang. Weather conditions on the Korean peninsula also appear to favour a launch on Thursday or Saturday,according to meteorological reports from Japanese television. The likelihood of a launch (on Thursday) is the greatest, said Francis Yoon,a professor of engineering at South Korea's Yonsei University and an expert on rocket technology. The launch of the Unha-3 rocket,which North Korea says will merely put a weather satellite into space,breaches UN sanctions imposed to prevent Pyongyang from developing a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead. Kim Jong-Un named to new top party post North Koreas young leader strengthened his grip on power with a new title making him the nations top political official. Kim Jong-Un was named first secretary of the ruling Workers Party,a new post,while his late father,longtime leader Kim Jong-Il,was given the posthumous title of eternal general secretary at a special Workers Party conference,Korean Central News Agency reported. AP
