Commence Countdown: North Korea Closing Air Routes For Rocket Launch

Bloomberg:

North Korea will close two routes in its airspace April 4-8 for a scheduled rocket launch, South Korea’s transportation ministry said.

The air routes off North Korea’s east coast will be closed daily between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the period for the launch of a rocket carrying a communications satellite, South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said late yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The ministry cited North Korea’s official notice of the plan.

Kim Jong Il’s regime has said it intends to launch a satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful space project. The U.S. and South Korea have warned against the action, saying it would violate a United Nations resolution and that evidence suggests North Korea is instead planning to test a ballistic long-range missile capable of reaching Alaska.

The routes to be closed off are part of the R452 route that connects North Korea and Russia and the G346 route between the communist country and Japan, which aren’t used by South Korea’s national carriers or foreign planes flying to South Korea, the South Korean ministry said.

North Korea test-fired a long-range Taepodong-2 missile in July 2006, three months before it tested a nuclear device, prompting sanctions from the UN Security Council.

The country agreed in February 2007 to scrap its nuclear weapons development program in return for energy aid and normalized diplomatic ties with the U.S. and Japan. Six-nation disarmament talks remain stalled as the communist country refuses to let inspectors remove samples from its main Yongbyon nuclear reactor.

Wi Sung Lac, South Korea’s chief negotiator to the nuclear talks will visit Beijing to meet with Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei on March 24, Yonhap News reported today, citing a diplomatic official it didn’t identify. Wi also plans to visit the U.S., the report said.

The six-nation talks also involve Japan and Russia.