N.Korea Won’t Give up Rocket Launch, Says U.S. Should Drop Confrontational Mindset
North Korea pushed back Tuesday at President Barack Obama's criticism of its plans to launch a satellite aboard a rocket, calling his stance confrontational and vowing to go forward with what it insisted was a peaceful mission.
Worries about the North's plans, which Washington and Seoul say are a cover to test long-range missile technology for a possible nuclear weapons program, have overshadowed a two-day nuclear security summit in Seoul that has drawn nearly 60 leaders.
The summit ends Tuesday. While not on the official agenda, North Korea's plans have been a major point of discussion among world leaders on the sidelines.
North Korea's surprise announcement 11 days ago of the launch came shortly after Pyongyang and Washington settled a food-aid-for-nuclear-freeze deal that had been seen as a breakthrough.
Obama during his trip to Seoul has urged Pyongyang to abandon the rocket plan or risk jeopardizing its future and thwarting the U.S.-North Korea food deal. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's government has warned it might shoot down parts of the rocket if it violates South Korean air space.
But Obama's claims that the launch is a provocation stem from "his wrong conception," an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The spokesman said North Korea, which calls itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK, will go ahead with its launch plans, which it called a sovereign state's legitimate right and crucial for its economic development.
"The DPRK will never give up the launch of a satellite for peaceful purposes," the spokesman said.
If the U.S. is sincere, Obama "should drop the confrontation conception of standing in the way of the DPRK, though belatedly, and make a bold decision to acknowledge that the DPRK also has a right to launch satellites," the spokesman said.
North Korea says it will launch its rocket around the April 15 celebration of the birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.
Source: Associated Press, Agence France Presse
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