REPORTING FROM BEIJING -- Two weeks after agreeing to freeze its weapons programs in return for food aid, North Korea announced Friday it is preparing to launch a satellite in mid-April to mark the 100th anniversary of founder Kim Il Sung’s birth.

Although North Korea insisted its intentions are peaceful, the timing of the launch could scuttle the newly inked deal with Washington. The technology employed in shooting a satellite into orbit is essentially the same as a long-range missile test. Two previous tests, in 1998 and 2009, were also described by Pyongyang as satellite launches.


In Washington, the U.S. State Department called the announcement of the launch "highly provocative."


"Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with North Korea's recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.


The food-aid deal announced Feb. 29 called for North Korea to suspend its nuclear and long-range missile programs, raising hopes that the new, youthful leader, Kim Jong Un, is keener to normalize relations with the United States than his father, Kim Jong Il, who died in December.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/worl...te-launch.html


Obama punked again. Heck of a job, Barry. Heckuva job.