S. Korea’s spy agency says N. Korea is preparing for fifth nuclear test. (Article is due soon.)
North Korea is preparing for its fifth nuclear test, the South’s intelligence services have said, as cited by Yonhap agency. The news come hours after Pyongyang claimed it had successfully put an earth observation satellite into orbit.
Earlier the agency reported that the South Korean military found suspected fragments of the North’s rocket.
The metal object believed to be a part of the rocket’s fairing (the nose cone which houses the payload) was discovered southeast of South Korea’s Jeju Island by a navy ship, an official from the country’s Defense Ministry said.
Yonhap cited a Seoul lawmaker, who said the North has the technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile.
“The satellite is presumed to weigh 200 kilograms, two times heavier than the satellite launched in 2012,” the lawmaker said, after being briefed in a closed-door session by the National Intelligence Service. A proper satellite usually weighs at least 800 to 1,500 kilograms, the agency wrote.
The North Korean satellite was launched on a “carrier rocket†that blasted off from the Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County. The KCNA news agency said the satellite entered its preset orbit nine minutes and 46 seconds after lift-off at 9:09am Korean time.
The North's missile launch came a month after it carried out its fourth nuclear test. The U.N. Security Council has been working on a resolution for sanctions on the communist country.
Lee also said North Korea is preparing to conduct a fifth nuclear test at any time.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/02/07/0200000000AEN20160207007251315.html