Gov’t to enforce no fly, no sail zone in areas within path of Sokor rocket

MANILA, Philippines - The government will enforce tomorrow a no fly, no sail and no fishing zone in areas lying in the likely path of the rocket to be launched by South Korea.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it has received information from the Defense and Armed Forces attaché in Seoul that the launch would be held on Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. Philippine time.

“No sail zone, no fly zone, no fishing zone policy will be effective on 29 November and continuous monitoring is hereby advised,” NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos said in a bulletin yesterday.

Ramos asked all concerned agencies to place their respective disaster operation centers under blue alert today and upgrade the status to red alert the following day.

A blue alert places half of disaster management personnel on standby.

A red alert, meanwhile, requires all disaster management teams to monitor developments.

The ban will cover waters and air space off the Bicol region, Samar, Leyte, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

The “exclusion zone” will cover a 600-kilometer by 400-kilometer area about 540 nautical miles east of the Philippine eastern seaboard.

The policy would require airlines and shipping firms to implement rerouting schemes to ensure the safety of their passengers.

Fishermen in affected areas have been advised to store enough food before the implementation of the fishing ban.

South Korea bared last month its plan to launch a satellite into orbit as part of its scientific research program.

The Science and Technology Satellite-2 aboard Korea Space Launch Vehicle-I was supposed to originate from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeollanam-do.

The original launch schedule was from Oct. 26 to 31 but this was deferred due to a fuel problem.

South Korea tried to launch the rocket on Nov. 9 but postponed it anew due to a technical glitch.

South Korea also tried to launch a similar rocket in 2009 and 2010 but failed.

With South Korea’s rocket launch imminent, North Korea has stepped up what could be preparations to launch a new rocket from its northwestern launch station in defiance of a United Nations ban, a New York Times report said quoting satellite operator DigitalGlobe.

The increased activities at North Korea’s Sohae Space Launch Station came months after its Unha-3 rocket, launched from the same site in April, disintegrated shortly after takeoff and failed to put what North Korea claimed was a scientific satellite into orbit, New York Times said.

The US and its allies condemned it as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that banned North Korea from testing technology that could be used to develop long-range ballistic missiles.