The North says it plans a peaceful satellite launch, but the United States and its regional allies see the exercise as a provocative test of a ballistic missile in defiance of United Nations resolutions.

The nuclear-armed communist state has so far ignored calls for restraint, however, fuelling the rocket at its Musudan-ri site in the northeast.

"Preparations for launching Kwangmyongsong-2, an experimental communications satellite, by carrier rocket Unha-2 have been completed at the satellite launching ground in the east coastal area of the DPRK (North Korea)," the Korean Central News Agency said.

"The satellite will be launched soon," it added, citing information from the Korean Committee of Space Technology.

The Unha-2 (Galaxy-2) rocket is known in the West as the Taepodong-2, which could theoretically reach Alaska or Hawaii at maximum range.

The state news agency said previous notifications to international aviation and shipping bodies remain unchanged.

These gave notice of a launch between April 4-8, and between the hours of 11:00am and 4:00pm (0200-0700 GMT).

Yonhap said cameras had been set up at three different places around the launch site.

"Given that the fuelling work has been completed and then the monitoring cameras have been set up, it is very likely for the launch to be in several hours," it quoted a Seoul government source as saying.

Seoul's defence minsitry declined to comment.

North Korea has deployed navy vessels in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) ahead of the launch, Japanese media reported.

The North says the first stage of the rocket will fall in the Sea of Japan some 75 miles (47 miles) from Japan's coast and the second stage will plunge into the Pacific.

The North's ships would collect data from the launch including the rocket's trajectory, and try to collect fallen parts, Yomiuri Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun said.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have vowed to refer a launch to the UN Security Council, while US President Barack Obama demanded that Kim Jong-Il's regime rethink its plan.

"We have made very clear to the North Koreans that their missile launch is provocative," Obama said during a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Strasbourg.

"Should North Korea decide to take this action, we will work with all interested parties in the international community to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it can't threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity."

Obama's special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, delivered an apparently softer message, saying his goal is to resume stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks no matter what happens.

If North Korea does go ahead with the launch, Bosworth told a Washington news conference, the United States would "consult vigorously on what action might then be appropriate."

"We believe that a defiance of a UN Security Council resolution is an action that requires that there be some consequences," Bosworth said.

But he added that the aim is to get back to the denuclearisation process as soon as possible after the "dust settles."

Bosworth said the United States continues "to look with great interest and great priority to the need to resume" the disarmament talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

They stalled last December amid a dispute over verification.

"That remains of course our long-term goal and we would hope to return to that goal in as reasonable a period and time as possible," Bosworth said.

North Korea, however, says that even a Security Council debate on its launch would lead to the breakdown of the six-party talks.

Bosworth said it was difficult to know if international diplomatic measures against North Korea would further escalate a showdown.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
Nuclear Space Technology at Space-Travel.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News