North Korea Preparing 5th Nuclear Test: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – North Korea is preparing for its fifth nuclear test, the South's intelligence services said on Sunday, hours after Pyongyang announced it had successfully put an earth observation satellite into orbit.
Earlier South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said that the South Korean military found suspected fragments of the North’s rocket, The Russia Today reported.
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 launch triggered international concern as a potential long-range missile test. The UN Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. South Korean bodies are already convening emergency meetings at different levels. The UNSC has been working on sanctions against Pyongyang for its January nuclear test.
