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North Korea threatens reprisals for any harm to satellite
By Joseph S Bermudez Jr
10 March 2009
North Korea has threatened retaliation if the missile it has been preparing to launch from the Musudan-ni missile facility is intercepted by a foreign country.
A spokesperson for the Korean People's Army General Staff Department said on 9 March: "Shooting down our satellite, which is for peaceful purposes, will precisely mean a war." He added that Pyongyang would launch "without hesitation a just retaliatory strike operation" if its missile or space launch vehicle (SLV) is targeted.
The declaration followed three weeks of escalating rhetoric over North Korea's forthcoming launch of the Kwangmyongsong 2 satellite aboard an Unha 2 SLV. Jane's revealed in February that preparations for the launch of an SLV or a ballistic missile from the Musudan-ni facility were well advanced.
On 24 February, Pyongyang's Space Technology Committee said it was preparing to launch a communications satellite, the Kwangmyongsong 2, and not a Taepodong 2 ballistic missile, as had been feared.