By IANS,
Washington : The US Defence Department has said the April launch of a long-range rocket announced by North Korea would violate UN resolutions and represents a destabilising influence in the region.
The US “considers it destabilising behaviour”, urging the North Korean leadership to “reconsider this decision and to conform to their obligations under those sanctions”, Xinhua quoted the Pentagon spokesman John Kirby as saying Friday.
The rocket would carry a North Korean-made Kwangmyongsong-3 polar-orbiting earth observation satellite to mark the 100th birthday of its late leader Kim Il Sung.
“If, in fact, they do what they are claiming they will do, it is a very clear violation of two United Nations Security Council resolutions and is in violation of their obligations to the international community,” Kirby said.
“We continue to operate every day with our South Korean counterparts and we hold firmly to our alliance obligations and to security on the Korean peninsula,” said Kirby.
The US Defence Department is “very comfortable with the full range of military capabilities we have at our disposal in the Asia Pacific region and in and around the Korean peninsula”, he added.