north korea satellite

north korea satellite

north korea satellite, While the world celebrates Earth hour, while we have the comfort of knowing the power will be back on after 60 minutes there is the people of North Korea that “celebrate” Earth hour each and every hour of their lives. Only they do not have the comfort of knowing the juice will start flowing again because it won’t. Only in the city of Pyongyang where the ruling class lives do they enjoy the comforts electicity and energy provides.
Be thankful we live in a place were energy is abundant and relatively cheap. Without it life is hard and short. Be thankful we live in a country were we can take energy for granted so much that we can voluntarily live without it for a single hour.

North Korea will launch an earth observation satellite next month to mark the 100th birthday of its late founding leader Kim Il-sung, the state news agency KCNA reported Friday.

The Unha-3 rocket carrying the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite will lift off from a launch pad in Cholsan, a coastal town in the country s northwest, between April 12 and 16, a spokesperson for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in a statement carried by KCNA, reports RIA Novosti.

"(We) will strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage concerning the launch of scientific and technological satellites for peaceful purposes and ensure maximum transparency," the spokesperson said. Kim Il-sung, revered as the Eternal Sun of Mankind in North Korea, ruled the impoverished communist nation for nearly 50 years before dying in 1994. His birthday, April 15, is commemorated as the Day of the Sun. Massive celebrations are planned for the centenary of his birth.

The announcement came just two weeks after Pyongyang agreed to suspend uranium enrichment, as well as nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for 240,000 tonnes of US food aid. Next month s launch is an opportunity for "putting the country s technology of space use for peaceful purposes on a higher stage", the spokesperson said.

A similar launch in 2009 drew international criticism and led to UN Security Council sanctions. The North claimed the satellite reached orbit but the US and South Korea said the rocket fell into the Pacific and that the launch was a cover for ballistic missile tests.

The world's most secretive country is also one of its darkest. This satellite image shows night in North Korea. The capital Pyongyang, near the western coast, is one of the only places in the country with electricity. At the top of the picture, the illuminations show cities in China. At the bottom right, Kyushu and the southern islands of Japan.

The bright line in the middle of the peninsula marks the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea, and the southern capital, Seoul, is the blaze of white just across the border. Night-time luminosity is thought to correlate with economic prosperity, by which measure North Korea is practically penniless.

Saddled with UN sanctions as a result of the nuclear weapons programme of their former leader Kim Jong-Il, North Koreans have to live with regular power shortages and blackouts, as well as chronic food shortages. After this year's Arab Spring, South Koreans sent balloons north across the border, informing their neighbours of the uprisings.