North Korea may be readying to fire a long-range ballistic missile from its northwestern launch site, a Japanese government source said, citing satellite imagery analyses conducted over the past several days and cautioning that the launch could occur in about a week at the earliest, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported early on Thursday, January 28.
Signs of the apparent preparations for a missile launch from Dongchang-ri come while UN Security Council members envisage toughening sanctions against Pyongyang following its fourth nuclear test on January 6 in defiance of past Security Council resolutions.
The reclusive country's supposed action could be aimed at flouting the council and any plans among its members to tighten sanctions over the latest nuclear detonation.
South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok declined to comment on whether there were pre-launch activities at the site, citing a policy of not discussing intelligence matters. However, he said the North had issued no international warnings on navigation, as it has ahead of previous long-range rocket launches, Reuters says.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited a government source as saying there had been steady activity at the missile base, with screens set up at key areas, probably to deter spy satellite surveillance.
Much of the site's operation is automated and rails are set up to move rocket components quickly for final assembly and launch, Yonhap quoted the source as saying.
The site was upgraded last year to accommodate the launch of a longer-range rocket, experts have said.
Isolated North Korea says it has a sovereign right to run a space program and its long-range rockets are built to deliver satellites into space.
