Is North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program Really Unstoppable?

The world is again focused on North Korea, which notified UN agencies on Tuesday that it plans to soon launch what it calls an "earth observation satellite." ~~~~~ The US State Department says the international community must respond swiftly to North Korea's plans to launch the satellite, while calling on the UN to impose new sanctions against the North : "The UN Security Council has a role to play by holding it accountable by imposing a tough, comprehensive and credible package of new sanctions and by ensuring vigorous enforcement of the resolutions already adopted." Spokesman John Kirby said : "This latest announcement further underscores the need for the international community to send the North Koreans a swift, firm message that their disregard for UN Security Council obligations will not be tolerated." ~~~~~ **Russia's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it is deeply concerned about the NK's decision to go ahead with a satellite launch : "...the North Korean side demonstrates an outrageous disregard for the universally recognized norms of international law." **South Korea said Wednesday North Korea's planned launch is really the launch of a long-range missile and warned the North to call off the launch, which is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, South Korea's president said in a statement : "We strongly warn that the North will pay a severe price...if it goes ahead with the long-range missile launch plan." **Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would work with the US and others to "strongly demand" that North Korea refrain from what he called a planned missile launch. Japan issued a military alert Wednesday. Japan's defense minister, General Nakatani, told the media : "We have defenses ready to deal with all threats, but in view of the announcement I have put the Self Defense Force's Aegis destroyers and our PAC-3 units on alert and issued an order to shoot down any ballistic missile threat." **China, North Korea's only major ally, is under US pressure to use its influence to rein in the isolated North. China's Foreign Ministry says the North's right to space exploration is restricted under UN resolutions : "We are extremely concerned about this....we hope North Korea exercises restraint on the issue of launching satellites, acts cautiously and does not take any escalatory steps that may further raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula." ~~~~~ North Korea says it has a sovereign right to pursue a space program by launching rockets, although the world suspects it is covertly testing banned technology for a ballistic missile that could strike South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and the US mainland. The London-based International Maritime Organization said North Korea made a declaration that the launch would occur between February 8 and 25, between 7 a.m. and noon Pyongyang time. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said North Korea also informed the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Telecommunication Union of the planned satellite launch in order to warn civilians, shipping and aircraft in the area about the rocket and falling debris. It follows North Korea’s January claim that it tested a hydrogen bomb, NK’s fourth nuclear test, and raises concerns that the North is preparing to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile. It is a snub to China, whose representative for Korean affairs landed in Pyongyang Tuesday for talks. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the US military is adding 14 interceptors to the 30 already in place, as defense advocates call for more. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved a bill to broaden existing NK sanctions over its nuclear program, cyber attacks and human rights record. Intelligence reports of movement of components and propellant at North Korea's Sohae satellite launch facility suggest a test launch within weeks. It is bizarre that the danger is serious and immediate, the world worries, and the UN considers useless sanctions, but there seems to be no way to halt North Korea's rogue nuclear program. Is the Dear Leader really unstoppable ?