North Korean satellite ‘useless’, US officials say

A senior U.S. defence official has said that the long-rang satellite shot into space by North Korea is “tumbling in orbit” and incapable of functioning in any useful way.

Following the launch, the Security Council of the United Nations rising from an emergency meeting said that it was considering sanctions against Pyongyang for going ahead to launch the satellite despite warning.

Read also: UN says sanctions underway for North Korea

And while calling the launch a “challenge to world peace” South Korean President Park Geun-hye says her government announced it would begin talks with the United States to deploy a defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which can intercept missiles in flight.

Confirming the move, a U.S defense official told CNN that plans to implement the missile defense system had been accelerated in response to the launch, and it could potentially be deployed within weeks.

North Korea still maintains that the long-range rocket launch which has been followed by wide-spread international criticism was for scientific and “peaceful purposes.”

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