Seoul: N. Korea moves up rocket launch window to Feb. 7-14

North Korea is expected to defy global calls to drop its plan to launch a long-range rocket and proceed with the launch, a Chinese expert told a state-run newspaper on Saturday.

With the worldwide community still struggling to find a united response to the North’s January 6 nuclear test, the rocket launch – while provocative – is unlikely to substantially up the punitive ante.

The campaign to win China s backing for deeper sanctions against North Korea gained in intensity Friday, with the US and South Korean presidents making their case directly to Xi Jinping.

None of this means the threat of North Korea developing advanced ballistic missiles is a mirage.

US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday (Feb 5) agreed to respond to North Korean “provocations” with an “impactful” UN Security Council resolution, the White House said.

South Korea, the US and Japan exchanged intelligence on the DPRK’s long-range missile within the framework of the intelligence-sharing pact signed in late 2014 by the three countries, the Seoul military official said.

A rocket launch coming so soon after would raise concern that North Korea plans to fit nuclear warheads on its missiles, giving it the capability to launch a strike against South Korea, Japan and possibly targets as far away as the United States West Coast.

The White House says they reaffirmed their refusal to accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, as well as to the “complete and verifiable” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Two JAL flights, meanwhile, from Jakarta to Narita and from Narita to Manila, will also be diverted, Japan Airlines said.

North Korean state media had not reported on the changed schedule.

“We hope all sides, including North Korea, can meet each other halfway and should work hard together to push the North Korean nuclear issue onto the track of a negotiated resolution”.

Most importantly, China, North Korea’s only major ally, is unlikely to support stronger punishment against Pyongyang over fears of provoking a regime collapse, and potentially a stream of refugees across the border, analysts say.

Meanwhile, recent satellite images taken at the North’s Sohae rocket launch site indicate the arrival of what is thought to fuel tankers.

Nakatani added that the ministry “is taking every necessary measure” to address contingencies linked to a possible ballistic missile launch by North Korea.