Seoul
(ANTARA News/Yonhap) - This month`s long-range rocket launch will cost North
Korea some US$850 million, the equivalent of feeding 19 million people for one
year, intelligence authorities in Seoul estimated Monday.
The North
says the rocket launch set for sometime between April 12 and 16 is designed to
put an earth observation satellite into orbit. Pyongyang also says it has a
sovereign right to fire the rocket for the peaceful exploration of space,
though the launch is widely seen as a disguised test of international ballistic
missile technology banned under a U.N. resolution.
The Seoul
official said that the rocket`s expenses of $850 million are enough to buy 2.5
million tons of corn from China and thus can feed 19 million of the North`s 24
million population for a year.
"North
Korea has suffered a deficit of 400,000 tons of food every year. So, the money
could resolve the problem of food shortages for six years," the official
said.
Separately,
North Korea is expected to spend $2 billion to celebrate the 100th anniversary
of the birth of late President Kim Il-sung, the country`s founder and
grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, which falls on April 15, according
to the official.
Rebuffing a
chorus of international warnings, North Korea has vowed to press ahead with its
rocket launch plan, a move that is certain to invite stronger punitive actions
from the international community.
Together
with its nuclear weapons program, the North`s missile program has long been a
regional security concern.
Pyongyang
last launched a long-range rocket in April 2009 and conducted its second
nuclear test a month later.
The
official said North Korea might conduct a third nuclear test or stage a
military provocation after the planned rocket launch.
"Internal
and external circumstances are similar to those in the 2009 rocket
launch," the official said. "There is a high possibility that North
Korea could carry out a nuclear test or an additional military
provocation."
Seoul`s
military officials said North Korea moved the main body of a three-stage rocket
to the launch site in Dongchang-ri in the North`s northwest for final
preparations for the liftoff.
North Korea
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.
The total
burn time for the three-stage rocket has been estimated at 317 seconds -- 112
seconds for the first stage, 180 seconds for the second and 25 seconds for the
third, the official said.
South Korea
and Japan have warned they would shoot down the rocket if it goes off course
and violates their airspace.
"If
North Korea is unsuccessful in the launch, parts of the rocket could fall into
our sea," the official said, adding South Korea and the U.S. are preparing
for "various measures" to intercept the rocket in case of endangering
the South Korean territory or retrieve it.
About
28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean
War.
North Korea
is just coming out of the 100-day mourning period set for its late leader Kim
Jong-il who died on Dec. 17 of a heart attack.
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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