朝鲜宣布火箭发射准备就绪 Pyongyang Declares Rocket Ready for Launch

PlayBar
10 April, 2012

朝鲜星期二宣布完成了火箭发射的准备工作。朝鲜的发射计划正受到国际社会的严厉指责。朝鲜航天项目副主任在平壤对记者表示,已经做好了最早在星期四发射这枚火箭的准备。包括美国之音在内的国际记者星期天被带到发射台参观这枚火箭。外界称,朝鲜发射卫星实际上是秘密试验具有运载核武器能力的弹道导弹的幌子。这名副主任在新闻发布会上否认这一指控。他还坚持说,没有火箭碎片落入居民区的危险,他说,火箭的第一级将落入距离菲律宾160公里以外的海里。

星期二早晨,面对这一火箭发射计划,美国和韩国重申要致力于对韩国的防卫。美韩认为朝鲜发射火箭是一次“严重挑衅”。韩国官员说,韩国国防部长金宽镇与美国国防部长帕内塔通过电话讨论了这次发射。两名官员同意将协调行动来监视这次发射。美国国务院发言人纽兰星期一说,朝鲜发射火箭只会让朝鲜的共产党政权进一步陷入孤立。平壤声称发射这枚火箭的目的是向轨道送入一颗气象卫星。但是美国和韩国认为,这次发射是试验可运送核弹头的弹道导弹的一个途径。

North Korea on Tuesday announced the completion of preparations for a rocket launch that is being roundly condemned by the international community. The deputy director of North Korea's space program ((Ryu Gum Chol)) told reporters in Pyongyang that the rocket is now ready for a launch date as early as Thursday. International journalists including a VOA reporter were taken to view the rocket on its launch pad Sunday. At his press conference, the deputy director rejected charges that the satellite launch is in fact a covert test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. He also insisted there is no danger of debris falling on inhabited areas, saying the first stage will fall into the sea 160 kilometers from the Philippines.

Earlier Tuesday, the United States and South Korea reaffirmed their commitment to South Korea's defense in the face of the planned launch, which they described as a "serious provocation." South Korean officials say Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin discussed the launch with his American counterpart Leon Panetta by telephone. The officials agreed to coordinate efforts to monitor the launch. On Monday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the launch will serve only to further isolate North Korea's communist government. Pyongyang says the purpose of firing the rocket is to launch a weather satellite into orbit. However, the United States and South Korea see the launch as a means of testing a ballistic missile that could be used to deliver nuclear warheads.