North Korea announced Friday it would launch a rocket carrying a satellite next month, just 16 days after agreeing to suspend long-range missile tests in return for massive US food aid. The United States, Japan and South Korea condemned the plan and said it would breach a United Nations ban imposed after previous launches. Blast-off will be between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung, the communist state’s official news agency and state television said. The US State Department called the proposed launch “highly provocative” and a threat to regional security. It would also be inconsistent with the announced missile test moratorium, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. The surprise February 29 deal, under which Pyongyang also promised to freeze its uranium enrichment plant, had raised hopes of eased tensions under the new regime headed by Kim Jong-Un. But one analyst said Friday’s announcement effectively killed off the agreement, under which the US was to give the hungry and impoverished nation 240,000 tonnes of food over a year.
