North Korea ‘preparing separate missile launch’ as pressure mounts over satellite plans

The visit comes as North Korea plans to launch what it called an “earth observation satellite” some time between February 8 and 25.

It urged North Korea to return to talks over its nuclear programme and other issues.

“We warn that if North Korea proceeds with a long-range missile launch”, said South Korean official Cho Tae-yang, “the worldwide society will ensure that the North pays searing consequences for it”.

The Reuters report quoted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as telling Japanese lawmakers “this will effectively mean the firing of a ballistic missile”.

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

He said China “cannot stop” the North from attempting to launch a rocket. United Nations sanctions in North Korea were also tightened after the country conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

“We are extremely concerned about this”, Lu Kang, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

South Korea has warned a “severe price” will be paid if the North goes ahead.

South Korea won’t hesitate to shoot down a North Korean rocket or its debris if necessary, the Defense Ministry said Thursday, amid clear signs that the secretive neighbor’s rocket launch is imminent.

North Korea has made it official that it’s planning a satellite launch, which many countries (including the United States and South Korea) view as a thinly veiled pretext for testing out a ballistic missile.

South Korea issued dire warnings to North Korea as it prepares to launch a long-range rocket this February.

North Korea has claimed it has the sovereign right to launch “a series of satellites for peaceful purposes”.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye yesterday called for strong United Nations sanctions that would make North Korea realize it could not survive if it did not abandon its weapons programs.

Pentagon officials strongly condemned the North Korean plans, telling Scout Warrior the planned actions would come of the heels of a January 6 nuclear test – referred to as an egregious violations.

The US and South Korea are seeking fresh sanctions after its latest nuclear test.

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.

( _Korean) “The North’s public announcement of its launch shows a resolute drive, behind which there’s the decision of its leader Kim Jong-un himself”.

Those locations are expected to be in the Yellow Sea off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast and in the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Philippines, Pyongyang said.

She added, “Whether or not they have managed to develop that particular capability without having visibly tested it is a question we simply don’t have the answer to”.