North Korea ‘preparing long-range missile launch’

Meanwhile, South Korea warned its rival not to pursue its plan to launch a long-range satellite, ABC News noted Tuesday.

North Korea may be preparing a ballistic missile launch from a base on its east coast in addition to its announced plans to fire a space rocket, Japan’s public broadcaster reported on Thursday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would work with the United States and others to “strongly demand” that North Korea refrain from what he described as a planned missile launch.

The launch declaration, which is meant to warn civilians, shipping and aircraft in the area about the rocket and falling debris, follows North Korea’s disputed claim on January 6 to have tested a hydrogen bomb, the country’s fourth nuclear test. A launch would be seen as a snub by North Korea of its only major ally, China, whose representative for Korean affairs landed in the North for talks on Tuesday. Still China remains anxious that a crackdown on North Korea may destabilize the Kim Jong Un regime and lead to millions of refugees fleeing across China’s border.

“We are extremely concerned about this”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a briefing.

During his recent visit to China, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Beijing to cooperate in imposing sanctions, as it “has a particular ability because of its special role and its connections to North Korea”.

But he added Wu was only in Pyongyang for the objective of “exchanging views with the North Korea side over the current situation of the Korean Peninsula”. The two governments have been calling on China to increase sanctions to bring about change in North Korea.

Leaders across the world have decried North Korea’s plans to test a long-range rocket later this month, despite Pyongyang’s insistence that it is simply trying to better the country’s space program.

In 2012, North Korea launched a similar rocket.

The United Nations has banned multistage rocket launches by North Korea because such technology can be adapted to create missiles able to deliver weapons.

Since early 2013, North Korea has been upgrading the Sohae launch complex to handle larger, longer-range rockets with heavier payloads, but most experts say Pyongyang is still years from obtaining a credible ICBM capability. I hear the rhetoric that China does not want North Korea to fall, as it fears the refugee problem of a starving nation, but no deals seem now in order.

The news drew an instant rebuke from the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and carried out several nuclear weapon tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

Japan also ordered its military forces Wednesday to stand ready to intercept any North Korean missile entering the country’s territory, according to Kyodo News of Japan.