North Korea delaying the launch! I wonder why? Saturn on NK's Sun?
"North Korea appeared to have delayed its planned rocket launch at least by one day, a South Korean official said on Saturday.
The official made the remarks shortly after attending an emergency meeting of security ministers at Cheong Wa Dae.
"The emergency meeting has been ended. We believe the North will not fire the rocket today," a presidential official told reporters, asking not to be identified.
Pyongyang was earlier expected to fire off its "satellite" Saturday as its official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced that the launch will take place "soon."
"Preparations for launching 'Kwangmyongsong-2,' an experimental communications satellite, by carrier rocket "Unha-2" have been completed," KCNA said.
Japanese media at one point reported the North had fired off its rocket, quoting Japanese government officials, but Tokyo soon issued a retraction, citing "technical error" from flawed radar observation.
Pyongyang had notified international agencies that it will launch a rocket between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. between Saturday and Wednesday to put a communications satellite in orbit, an endeavor it said is part of its peaceful space development program.
The move was denounced by South Korea, Japan and the U.S., who suspect the launch is a disguised test of the North's improved long-range missile theoretically capable of striking Alaska.
It was impossible to establish why the launch did not go ahead on the first day but Seoul experts said the weather at Musudan-ri was not ideal, with cloud and fairly strong winds.
North Korea's state media said Saturday that "relatively strong" winds are blowing on its northeast coast, where the country could launch a long-range rocket any time.
Rocket experts say the biggest meteorological factor that could decide the success of a launch is the strength of wind gusts and the level of electromagnetic waves in the air, which could block communication with the rocket. Wind speeds above 15 meters per second can seriously affect a rocket launch, they say.
Seoul weather officials said the winds would abate on Sunday.
But Seoul officials reportedly said the North may be delaying the rocket launch to attract more international attention.
North Korea was pressing ahead despite mounting international pressure to back down, with its closest ally, China, vowing to try to the last minute."
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/04/04/200904040050.asp