Korea Rocket Launch Changes Flight Paths

December 4, 2012

South Korea plans to reroute passenger flights over the Yellow Sea, to avoid possible collisions with debris from a long-range rocket that North Korea plans to launch.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs on Monday said it made the decision after learning that North Korea had informed China and Singapore of the flight path and other details.

North Korea told those nations the rocket will be launched in the morning and its debris will fall into the Yellow Sea and in waters east of the Philippines.

The International Maritime Organisation said North Korea said it will launch a satellite between December 10 and 22 during the hours of 7am and noon, and provided a list of dangerous co-ordinates where debris could fall.

South Korean officials say they will reroute six Korean Air flights.

They are also considering whether to reroute or change the departure times of several Korean Air and Asiana Airlines flights to Manila.

In a defiant move expected to raise the stakes of a global stand-off over its missile and nuclear programs, the North announced on Saturday that it will launch a rocket mounted with a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite this month.

The United States considers North Korea's rocket launches to be veiled covers for tests of technology for long-range missiles designed to strike the United States.

Such tests are banned by the UN security council, which has imposed two rounds of sanctions on the North following its nuclear tests.

It will be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power following his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago.

The embarrassing misfire of its last rocket eight months ago earned the country widespread international condemnation.