UN divided on North Korea rocket launch

The UN failed to agree on a response to North Koreas long-range rocket launch despite pressure from Washington.....

The UN failed to agree on a response to North Koreas long-range rocket launch despite pressure from Washington and its allies for action,while regional powers weighed the extent of the new security threat.

Analysts said Sundays launch of the rocket which flew over Japan during its 3,200 km flight was effectively a test of a ballistic missile designed to carry a warhead as far as Alaska.

They said an emboldened North Korea would use the first successful launch of its Taepodong-2 missile to extract concessions for showing up at any future round of six-party talks on ending its nuclear programme. It could also seek to water down obligations it signed onto under previous negotiations.

With this capability,North Korea is equipped with the infrastructure to play the nuclear game and raise the stakes in the six-way talks, said Kim Tae-woo,a nuclear and weapons expert at the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis.

The long-running talks among the two Koreas,China,Japan,Russia and the US have been stalled since December. Japan had called for the emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sunday. But the 15 members agreed only to discuss the matter further,diplomats said.

The US,Japan and South Korea say the launch violated Security Council resolutions banning the firing of ballistic missiles by Pyongyang,imposed after a nuclear test and other missile exercises in 2006.

Council diplomats said China,the nearest North Korea has to a major ally,and Russia were not convinced the launch of what North Korea said was a satellite was a violation of UN rules. Three other countries supported this view.

Its 10 against five, one diplomat told Reuters.

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The US military and South Korea said no part of the Taepodong-2 rocket entered orbit.

South Koreas biggest daily the Chosun Ilbo,quoting Government sources,said the rocket flew 3,200 km,which would put the US territory of Guam nearly in reach. The newspaper said this was double the range of an earlier version,called the Taepodong-1,fired over Japan in 1998.

In the only previous test flight of the Taepodong-2,in July 2006,the rocket blew apart 40 seconds after launch. The rocket is designed to fly an estimated 6,700 km.

The successful launch could have implications for security in North Asia,which accounts for one-sixth of the global economy. North Koreas launch,defying Western pressure,is a striking demonstration of the might of the Communist nations science and technology,its reclusive leader Kim Jong Il has said.

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Kim,who witnessed the launch of a communication satellite at a launch facility on the countrys east coast on Sunday,expressed great satisfaction with the result,North Koreas official media reported on Monday.

Iran said on Monday that North Korea was justified in carrying out its controversial weekend rocket launch and denied there were any links between the two countries missile programmes.