Now it’s South Korea rocket PH must watch out for

NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos. FILE PHOTO

Six months after the failed missile launch by North Korea, the Philippine government is preparing for a rocket launch of its neighbor, South Korea, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Monday.

Benito Ramos, NDRRMC executive director, said the council had called for a multi-agency meeting at Camp Aguinaldo Tuesday to discuss the implications of South Korea’s plan to send into space its third “science and technology satellite” on Oct. 26.

Citing information provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Ramos said debris from the rocket could fall some 800 nautical miles off the eastern coast of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean.

He said the rocket would pass over the country’s air space above Central and Eastern Visayas, and eastern Mindanao, although it was still unclear how big or heavy the rocket debris would be.

“We still lack information about this, that’s why we will have a meeting with  those who understand this highly technical issue,” Ramos told reporters.

“We have to ask if the whole booster (mechanism) of the rocket would fall off. That’s the first possibility. There’s also a possibility that it would disintegrate into pieces. If that’s the case, how small would the pieces be? The third possibility is that the (booster) would burn and only its ashes would fall,” the NDRRMC official said.

“We (also) expect to know what (South Korea’s) purpose is in launching the rocket,” Ramos added.

Unlike North Korea, he said South Korea formally notified the Philippines of its planned rocket launch through the DFA.