SOUTH KOREA
\nSouth Korean Joint Chief of Staff said Thursday that the military detected a North Korean projectile likely a space rocket as Pyongyang earlier indicated Japanese Coast Guards about firing a satellite into space once again.
\nIn a statement to reporters, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected the launch at around 3:50am (1850 GMT Wednesday).
\nNorth Korea claims that it has fired a \u201cspace launch vehicle,\u201d which was fired southwards from North Phyongan province and \u201ctraversed the international airspace above waters west of Ieodo,\u201d it said, referring to the Socotra Rock in the Yellow Sea.
\n\u201cOur military is maintaining a full readiness posture and closely coordinated with the United States, while simultaneously elevating our security posture,\u201d the JCS was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
\nThe launch was first signalled by the Japanese government, which said the North had fired a suspected ballistic missile.
\nThe Kyodo news agency, citing the government in Tokyo, said the projectile had flown over Japanese territory.
\nPyongyang told Japan\u2019s coast guard Tuesday that its launch would take place between August 24 and 31, prompting Tokyo to mobilise ships and its PAC-3 missile defence system in case anything was to land in its territory.
\nSeoul has said such a launch would be \u201can illegal act\u201d because it violates UN sanctions prohibiting the North from tests using ballistic technology, which is used for both space launches and missiles.
\nIn May, Pyongyang launched what it described as its first military reconnaissance satellite, but the rocket carrying it, the \u201cChollima-1\u201d named after a mythical horse that often features in official propaganda plunged into the sea minutes after takeoff.
\nThe crash sparked a complex, 36-day South Korean salvage operation involving a fleet of naval rescue ships, minesweepers and deep-sea divers.
\nThe retrieved parts of the rocket and the satellite were analysed by experts in South Korea and the United States, who later said it had no military utility as a reconnaissance satellite.
\nNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made the development of a military spy satellite a top priority.
\nNorth Korea\u00b4s ruling party \u201cbitterly\u201d criticised the officials responsible for the crash in June, according to state media.
\nRelations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years, and diplomacy is stalled after failed attempts in recent years to discuss Pyongyang\u2019s denuclearisation.
\nKim has declared North Korea an \u201cirreversible\u201d nuclear power and has called for ramped-up arms production, including tactical nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SOUTH KOREA South Korean Joint Chief of Staff said Thursday that the military detected a North Korean projectile likely a space rocket as Pyongyang earlier indicated Japanese Coast Guards about firing a satellite into space once again. In a statement to reporters, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected the launch at around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-351514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n