March 19, 2012North Korea seeking to develop nuclear missile, Seoul says
South Korea accused North Korea on Monday of trying to develop a nuclear-armed missile through a satellite launch next month, after Pyongyang dismissed international calls to abandon the exercise.
“Our government defines North Korea’s so-called working satellite launch plan as a grave provocation to develop a long-distance delivery means for nuclear weapons by using ballistic missile technology,” said presidential spokesman Park Jeong-Ha.
The North announced Friday it would launch a rocket between April 12-16 to put a satellite into orbit for peaceful purposes.
The United States and other nations see the launch as a disguised long-range missile test, which would breach a United Nations ban and violate last month’s denuclearisation deal with Washington.
The North is thought to have enough plutonium for perhaps six to eight nuclear weapons, but it is unclear whether it can build a nuclear warhead for a missile.
