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Comment by BillyTheMage | Hacker News Reader

Screw North Korea and all that, but it seems absolutely wild to me for it to be illegal for a country to launch their own satellites.

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It's because of the type of rocket they're launching it on. They're using an ICBM that there is an international regulation on.

Any rocket capable of reaching orbit is potentially an ICBM.

NK are specifically prohibited from launching ICBMs under international regulation. Launching them is "illegal". They've test launched a few in the past that were wildly condemned, this is the first time South Korea has threatened to shoot one down, although I'm certain they won't.

>NK are specifically prohibited from launching ICBMs under international regulation

What regulations specifically? It seems doubtful the DPRK agreed to those regulations?

Edit: I looked it up, it was some random security council resolution, which are usually toothless.

You're missing the point. South Korea would be well within their rights under international law to shoot down the North Korean rocket that is launching the satellite with no repercussions from the international community. I doubt they will because it would probably start WW3, however they have said they may.

What does this even mean? Illegal just means the other team says they can't do it. I can't believe that you're very surprised that our team told their team no. NK is almost universally regarded as a bad actor.

Ideally the law provides equal protections and rights to everyone. International law is much further from this ideal than US National law, and many people are surprised to learn details about international law.

If it's equal, why can we do it and they cannot?

That's kind of the point. International law isn't equal, there is often an 'us vs them'. The two are very different realms.

All law is written by crooks for their own benefit. National law has 'us vs them' baked into it just as much as international law.

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