North Korea said today it was preparing to launch a satellite on one of its rockets, which analysts have said could actually be a test-launch of its longest-range missile.
"Currently, full-fledged preparation is ongoing to launch a test-purpose communication satellite," North Korea's KCNA news agency said.
If the launch is successful, North Korea would have a missile with a maximum estimated range of 6,700 km, designed to carry a nuclear warhead that could hit US territory, although not the contiguous 48 states.
This would, for the first time, pose a direct security threat by the North to the United States. Proliferation experts have said the North, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, does not have the technology to make a nuclear weapon small enough to mount as a warhead.
The announcement heightens tensions on the Korean peninsula and adds more negative sentiment to already falling South Korean financial markets.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a trip to Asia last week, warned North Korea against any provocative moves.
North Korea in the past few weeks said it has the right to develop a peaceful space programme which is centred on a multi-stage rocket, known outside the country as the Taepodong-2. North Korea stunned the region when it launched a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan in 1998. It said at the time it had launched a satellite.
North Korea last tested the Taepodong-2 in 2006 when it flew for a few seconds and blew apart in less than a minute. The missile is designed to travel as far as Alaska.
Reuters