North Korea announces new missile launch amid condemnation from Japan and South Korea

PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA — North Korea has announced on Tuesday the launch of a new Earth observation satellite in the coming days, amid condamnations from Japan and South Korea, according to CNN. The country told the International Maritime Organization that the launch is intended between February 8 and 25. According to Reuters, a rocket launch coming so soon after a nuclear test raises concerns that North Korea is testing its capabilities of fitting nuclear warheads on missiles to attack South Korea and Japan, but also far away targets like the United States. In December 2012, North Korea successfully launched a long-range three-stage rocket from its Sohae launch station. The flight path saw the first stage of the rocket land in the Yellow Sea, near South Korea, and the second stage fall into the Pacific east of the Philippines. The country said it used the rocket to launch a weather satellite, but experts believe the launch was used to test a long range rocket thought to have a design range of more than 6,700km. This means that in theory the missile could hit parts of the US, including Alaska. North Korea has been spending decades trying to enhance its military technology. Each launch might bring it closer to developing its long term aim of a missile delivery system for a nuclear warhead. This animation shows North Korea missile launch on December 12, 2012. ----------------------------------------­­--------------------- Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off. Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter Stay connected with us here: Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/ Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus