NOTE: Updates as they become available are being provided below.
_________________________________________
KBS is reporting that North Korea has launched their long range rocket today:
North Korea has launched a long-range rocket. A South Korean official says the North fired the Eunha-3 rocket from a launch site at Dongchang-ri, Cheolsan County, North Pyeongan Province at 9:51 a.m. Wednesday.
The official said South Korean and American intelligence authorities are tracking the trajectory of the rocket and trying to confirm whether the launch is a success or a failure.
North Korea claims the rocket launch is aimed at putting a satellite into orbit, but South Korea and the United States believe that the rocket launch is a cover for a long-range missile test. [KBS Global]
Yonhap News Agency is reporting the launch as well. The Korea Times has published the above picture of the launch.
If true this means that a lot of people in the media were wrong in regards to how long it was going to take the North Koreans to repair their rocket. It is going to be interesting to see if this rocket launch was a success or not for the North Koreans. I will post more updates as they become available.
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UPDATE #1: On Twitter I am seeing reports that the Japanese media is reporting that the rocket has flown over Okinawa. If true this rocket has definitely performed far better than their past attempts.
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UPDATE: #2: According to Yonhap News Agency the rocket has landed in the ocean near the Philippines. I am thinking this could just be debris and not proof of a failed launch.
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UPDATE #3: The Wall Street Journal is confirming the rocket did fly over Okinawa.
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UPDATE #4: Yonhap is now reporting that it may just have been rocket debris landing near the Philippines. This makes sense because debris was expected to land near the Philippines.
UPDATE #5: On Twitter there is a report that the South Koreans are about to announce that the North Korean rocket launch was a success.
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UPDATE #6: North Korea says that its satellite has successfully entered orbit.
_____________________________________
UPDATE #7: Chico Harlan is reporting that the rocket launch appears to be a success but that the ROK Defense Ministry is saying that its apparent success should still be checked.
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6:57 pm on December 11th, 2012 1
So, why so little news this time around?
Too many times crying “Wolf!” only to have it be nothing?
7:05 pm on December 11th, 2012 2
The important question is. Can they reach California?
7:08 pm on December 11th, 2012 3
Even if N. Kore was able to get off a nuke inside America their regime would still fall, incredibly quickly. One sub, with a few nukes I’m sure could completely and utterly destroy all of N. Korea in a matter of minutes. And i’m 100% confident that we got subs off the coast of N. Korea 24/7
Here’s to hoping their leaders understand this and don’t want to die.
7:25 pm on December 11th, 2012 4
@1 – There is less news coverage of the launch this time because there was no media invited into North Korea. Due to all the media in North Korea for the spring launch it of course drew more coverage. Also the spring launch was before the election and just after an aid deal was signed between the US and North Korea. So there is that political angle. This time the US election is over and thus this creates less interest for the media to report on it.
Then finally you have the fact that the North Koreans have had so many failures that they are kind of like the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL where critics this year won’t take them seriously until they win a playoff game. If this launch was successful as reported than this is a huge success for the Kim Jong-un regime.
7:31 pm on December 11th, 2012 5
South Korean Ministry of Defense, government caught off guard by rocket launch.
7:35 pm on December 11th, 2012 6
Tom, if they could would one even care to waste a nuke on that state? Especially since the DPRK’s nuke is about the size of what, a truck? They have to get their ‘Jong Il’ down to size before they could even hope to get it to Cali. Even then, with their guidence systems being what they are, it would likely end up in Hollywood. No big deal if that place is destroyed.
8:17 pm on December 11th, 2012 7
At least that is over with instead of everybody sitting around scratching their asses all through the holidays. Thank you, you norK bastards.
8:23 pm on December 11th, 2012 8
It doesn’t matter people. North Korea will gladly sacrifice 20 million people to trade with 10,000 jar head Americans who will never accept a high casualty rate. America still has a lot more to lose than North Korea.
If North Korea can make one missile, it doesn’t stop them from making 5000 more of them to launch all of them at once at the US. At least some of them will fall on target. OK, joking aside, fully nuclear armed North Korea with launch capability means the US can now leave Asia. There’s no point to have conventional army in Asia when everyone is now nuclear.
8:26 pm on December 11th, 2012 9
8. Are you kidding? 5000 missiles? I’d be amazed if they could get 10 off the ground at once. Hell let’s see two! LOL
8:29 pm on December 11th, 2012 10
Yeah, two for where LaPort’s city is.
8:32 pm on December 11th, 2012 11
I don’t fear N. Korea and here’s why (no it’s cause of their army, or anything, I’m sure they cause some serious damage)
It’s cause they understand the aftermath if they do something really stupid. Look there is a line in the sand that we have drawn and if they cross it N. Korea will be gone. Will we lose a lot of people? Yes of course, however at the end of the day N. Korea will be gone and millions of them dead including all the top leadership.
I’m confident if N. Korea ever launched a nuke at anyone, that we’d turn their great mountains of Korea to the plains of Korea. After 10,000 years it’d make good farming land since it’d be so flat.
8:36 pm on December 11th, 2012 12
Red Dawn is coming true! America prepare to defend yourself!
8:50 pm on December 11th, 2012 13
#12 So you are hoping for a war that would death and suffering to millions, you are one sick individual.
8:52 pm on December 11th, 2012 14
I think the U.S. can manage to knock a single Nuke out of the air in the time it takes a missile to cross the Pacific.
8:54 pm on December 11th, 2012 15
You “think”. Are you sure about this?
9:58 pm on December 11th, 2012 16
Tom, I think America would handle itself better than Korea and China did when they were red dawned by Japan. Korea and China had to rely on America to help them out, at least in the movie America was able to defend itself.
10:06 pm on December 11th, 2012 17
That’s it. There is no way Tom is older than 19. Just barely drinking age in his homeland.
Anyways, this isn’t about actually having the ability to launch a nuclear weapon, it’s about saving face in a world where North Korea is the perpetual 왕따.
10:09 pm on December 11th, 2012 18
#9,
Clearly, the Christmas tradition in his family is eating mistletoe berries.
10:11 pm on December 11th, 2012 19
#8,
You’re incredibly naive. The USFK is here because if a sizable number of its troupes get killed in an attack, it will give the US a reason to drop the mother-load on North Korea.
10:16 pm on December 11th, 2012 20
#12,
Whatever you say. It will never happen. The North Korean government fears ending up like Ceausescu and some of other of its allies.
10:19 pm on December 11th, 2012 21
Since North Korea likes its numerology, is there anything to 12/12/12?
I know they were all hot and bothered over Kim Il Sung’s 100th Birthday, Kim Jong Il’s 70th birthday, and Kim Jong Eun’s 30th Birthday.
11:36 pm on December 11th, 2012 22
I am thankful N. Korea did this. Now ROK Drop will shut up about Psy for at least ten minutes.
11:39 pm on December 11th, 2012 23
#22 he has 934,858,606 views.
12:13 am on December 12th, 2012 24
If Psy makes it to One Billion Views by the 21st, the World Will End!
(The Internet wouldn’t lie, would it?)
From the calm morning,
the end will come,
when of the dancing horse,
the number of circles will be nine.
http://beforeitsnews.com/2012/2012/12/nostradamus-psy-gangnam-style-doomsday-2012-documentary-2441034.html
I don’t believe it, but you know Tom does!
2:49 am on December 12th, 2012 25
Remember this scene from the James Bond movie, “You Only Live Twice”? Well, if whatever the Norks put up there suddenly disappears … coincidence?
3:26 am on December 12th, 2012 26
Maybe the norK’s were trying to do us a favor and shoot down the Mayan Doomsday Asteroid which kill us all around 05:00 Korean time if they were unsuccessful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4179_Toutatis
If we are still here tomorrow, we can all thank the Great Kim Jung Un.
5:36 am on December 12th, 2012 27
Dammit #23!!!
5:42 am on December 12th, 2012 28
Meanwhile, Greenland’s glaciers and Canada’s ice shelves are diminishing fast. The forecast rise in sea level may have to be revised upward. Tim Lister reports for CNN.
5:49 am on December 12th, 2012 29
I’m not joking. But South Korean media are saying the North Korean missile has been a resounding success. It puts their range at well over 13,000km, putting most of mainland USA in the reach of the intercontinental nuclear missiles. This will be a very interesting development, now that US cities are at risk of nuclear destruction. I think the US government will be little more careful about threatening North Korea with war, now that their own cities are at risk, and not just South Korean cities.
5:56 am on December 12th, 2012 30
And lest anyone say their missiles aren’t accurate, South Korean military say the missiles was right on target. Range + Accuracy = new equation for the US administration.
6:07 am on December 12th, 2012 31
#30, Those were Iranian missiles, Abdullah…
6:22 am on December 12th, 2012 32
Let’s look at History, shall we?
US Wars and Party of President at start:
Banana Republics: 1914-1916, Democrat
Mexico (Panch Villa): 1916, Democrat
WW1 196-1918, Democrat
WW2 1941-1945, Democrat
Korea 1950-1953, Democrat
Vietnam 1963-1974, Democrat
Grenada 1983, Republican
Kuwait 1991, Republican
Bosnia 1992-1995, Democrat
Kosovo 1998-1999, Democrat
Afghanistan 2001-, Republican
Iraq 2003-2012, Republican
Libya 2011, Democrat
You’ve got a Democrat with a bad economy in the White House now.
Mr. Mom-jeans might develop a need to demonstrate that he’s not afraid of Putin or Hu in order to get the votes on raising taxes…
And now the norks have hung a “Kick Me” sign on their own arse…
This will not turn out well for anyone in North or South Korea.
6:25 am on December 12th, 2012 33
@28, your facts are spurious. Obama stopped AGW by the mere fact of his election. Unless you’re calling him a liar? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2pZSvq9bto
12:36 pm on December 12th, 2012 34
#29
“Threatening North Korea with war”?
If calling for sanctions and withholding more offers of aid are threats of war then I’m afraid those “threats” will probably increase. The North Korean leaders have chosen how they prefer to use their “wealth.” Miltary spending may fill their hearts but not their bellies. Refer to the lesson of the former Soviet Union.
I believe the U.S. and South Korea have had it in their power to bring about the collapse of the regimes up there for some time now. Where and how to apply leverage against their points of instability must be obvious. It’s just that no one, particularly South Korea, is prepared to deal with the messy results.
3:06 pm on December 12th, 2012 35
#29,
Big deal. They bought antiquated Chinese and Russian rocket parts, and hired Iranian and Ukrainian scientists to launch it. The only thing they provided was the kimchi.
3:11 pm on December 12th, 2012 36
…that or, like Setnaffa suggests, was actually an Iranian rocket launched by Iranian scientists…In other words, it’s old ripped off Chinese and Russian technology.
4:06 pm on December 12th, 2012 37
#35, I think they probably had to import the kimchi, too…
BTW, is it true Johnny Cash met Kim Il Sung and immortalized the dictator in song?
5:32 pm on December 12th, 2012 38
NBC news says that US officials say that the satellite is tumbling out of control. Jim Maklaszewski and Alan Boyle report.
5:36 pm on December 12th, 2012 39
NBC news says that US officials say that the satellite is tumbling out of control. Jim Maklaszewski and Alan Boyle report.
I made some mistake in my previous version of this comment, and it’s so bad I can’t edit it.
5:38 pm on December 12th, 2012 40
Still bad. Sorry. I don’t know what happende. NBC news says that US officials say that the satellite is tumbling out of control.
5:38 pm on December 12th, 2012 41
19- Troupes? You mean actors? Soldiers are troops.
7:50 pm on December 12th, 2012 42
#8 5,000 missiles? What are you trying to relive the 1400′s when the Koreans had that great missile delivery system? (Hwacha)
Tom, you are kidding yourself that the US would just sit there and do nothing if anyone hit them with a nuke? 911 should have taught you that when people get wiped out for no reason, they tend to want payback in blood.
So before you even think that the DPRK would ever launch a nuke at the US, place this thought into your head. GLOWING PARKING LOT….That is what the DPRK would look like after a nuke strike on the US.
12:38 am on December 13th, 2012 43
I guess if you can build a tongue scraper you can launch a rocket.
http://www.amazon.com/Accoutrements-Dear-Leader-Tongue-Scraper/dp/B004RP1O0O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355384213&sr=8-1&keywords=dear+leader+tongue+scraper
3:12 am on December 13th, 2012 44
#41,
Only if you’re an American who doesn’t know proper English orthography.
12:58 pm on December 13th, 2012 45
OK, Teadrinker, explain how “proper English orthography” makes Helix the Cat wrong when he says troupes are actors and troops are soldiers.
Both American and British English use troop for soldier and the French word troupe for a group of performers. Maybe in your haste to sound smart, you confused your proper English orthography with your proper French orthography.
Teadrinker is never one to use a normal word like “spelling” when a show-off word is available, even if it leads to inferior communication and the appearance of being an attention-seeking geek with low self-esteem.
3:08 pm on December 13th, 2012 46
#45,
Haste? No. I looked it up, something I find myself doing frequently being Canadian and British educated, but teaching textbooks written in American English. Both spellings are used in English for soldiers.
3:21 pm on December 13th, 2012 47
…Looked it up again. Yeah, can’t find my source. So, I’ll concede.
“Teadrinker is never one to use a normal word like “spelling” when a show-off word is available, even if it leads to inferior communication and the appearance of being an attention-seeking geek with low self-esteem.”
Ooooh, big words like ‘communication’ and ‘appearance’…
That makes you an hypocrite, doesn’t it?
3:22 pm on December 13th, 2012 48
And…who was seeking attention for pointing out what he thought was a spelling mistake?
3:45 pm on December 13th, 2012 49
It’s funny how AP says it is successful while NBC News says it’s hurtling out of orbit.
AP = acquiescence to Pyongyang?
3:49 pm on December 13th, 2012 50
I’m getting the same problem Glans has described. I’ve taken a snapshot of it and tried to tweet it HERE.
3:50 pm on December 13th, 2012 51
Viewing this in Chrome for Mac, I don’t see it. I only see the problem in Safari for Mac.
4:05 pm on December 13th, 2012 52
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Polonius: Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2.
Hmm… Who could this be directed towards?
4:34 pm on December 13th, 2012 53
#49: AP has a bureau in Pyongyang that they worked pretty hard to get. What’s likely happening is that they are getting news out of their Pyongyang bureau as part of their news synthesis process.
4:35 pm on December 13th, 2012 54
Oh, nevermind. You already know a ton. Should have checked out the links.
4:36 pm on December 13th, 2012 55
MTB, remember, Hamlet says Polonius is a tedious old fool.
kushibo, I had the problem with Firefox and Safari. Then it went away. I don’t know if it depends on the browser.
7:08 pm on December 13th, 2012 56
#52,
Yeah, Shakespeare’s prose is such a prime example of brevity.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life:
For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of time,
The Oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s Contumely,
The pangs of despised Love, the Law’s delay,
The insolence of Office, and the Spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his Quietus make
With a bare Bodkin? Who would Fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn
No Traveller returns, Puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of.
Thus Conscience does make Cowards of us all,
And thus the Native hue of Resolution
Is sicklied o’er, with the pale cast of Thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment,
With this regard their Currents turn awry,
And lose the name of Action. Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia? Nymph, in thy Orisons
Be all my sins remembered.”
(Translation: life sucks)
“Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visaged war hath smooth’d his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish’d, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew’d up,
About a prophecy, which says that ‘G’
Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here
Clarence comes…”
(Translation: Richard is a jerk).
7:09 pm on December 13th, 2012 57
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/13/christmas-cruise-plague-ship-norovirus-outbreak
4:14 am on December 14th, 2012 58
What seemed to start as a gracious retraction by Teadrinker quickly turned into more arrogant babbling.
Don’t attack me, Teadrinker, apologize to Helix the Cat for rudely accusing him of not knowing “proper English orthography” when, in fact, he did; and he knew it better than an English school owner or linguistic researcher or whatever you are claiming to be these days.
To your credit, the complement of calling him American might have made up for accusing him of ignorance.
6:14 am on December 14th, 2012 59
Teadrinker, that ain’t prose. John, you meant “compliment”.
7:09 am on December 15th, 2012 60
#58,
Apologize for not being a uni-lingual anglophone? Sure… Dream on, white boy.
#59,
Yes, I know it’s verse. Shakespeare uses both prose and verse…But, that’s besides the point, isn’t it?
7:41 pm on January 22nd, 2013 61
A unanimous UN Security Council resolution, the result of a US-China deal, condemns the North Korean rocket launch; it adds some individuals and the space agency to the existing sanctions; it updates the list of banned technology and it has provisions against smuggling of sensitive items. Here’s the big story.
North Korea remains defiant, and China urges calm and restraint on all sides.