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N. Korean satellite same threat as missile: S. Korea defense chiefSEOUL, Apr 02, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- North Korea's impending rocket launch poses a threat to regional stability whether it is meant to carry a satellite or a warhead, South Korea's defense chief said Wednesday. "Whether it is a satellite or a missile, the technology is the same," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said at a National Assembly hearing. "We understand they are equally threats to the Korean Peninsula and our surrounding region, and will respond accordingly." Lee's comments came after media reported in Washington that satellites spotted a bulb-shaped cover consistent with a satellite payload atop the rocket positioned on North Korea's east coast. Pyongyang says the multi-stage rocket has been set up to carry a satellite into orbit between April 4-8, dismissing outside suspicions it could be a ballistic missile capable of hitting Alaska in theory. "Even if it is a satellite, the technology behind can be converted for use on a missile," Lee said. "That is the view shared by South Korea and the United States." But Lee noted there is a "limit" to what his country's armed forces can do regardless of what the rocket turns out to have carried -- a satellite or a warhead. "Some issues are to be dealt with politically and diplomatically, and others militarily," he said, adding short-range missiles pose a more direct threat to his country. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned the launch would be a provocative act punishable by international sanctions. Washington and Tokyo have deployed missile-guided destroyers in the East Sea even though the U.S. emphasized it would not attempt an interception unless the rocket headed clearly toward its soil. South and North Korea remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty. |