[Aju News TV]
North Korea is probably in the early stages of preparations for a rocket blast-off, but a launch is not imminent, 38 North, the website of a US research institute, said, citing recent satellite imagery.
Japan's Kyodo News agency, citing satellite imagery analyses, reported this week that Pyongyang may be preparing for a long-range missile test in as early as a week at its Sohae launch site where the nuclear-armed country claimed to have launched satellites into space.
The South's defense ministry, however, said that North Korea could test a long-range missile anytime abruptly, but it has yet to declare a no-sail zone, a notification necessary before it conducts a long-range missile launch.
Satellite imagery taken between December 28 and January 25 showed "low-level" activities at the launch pad, a covered railway station and other places at the site, indicating the North "is in the early stages of preparation for launching a space launch vehicle", 38 North said.
"If that is the case, a rocket test in the coming week is unlikely," it said.
38 North, however, said there is "a high level of uncertainty about this judgment" as the site's gantry tower work platforms were covered by an environmental cover.
"The movable transfer structure could easily allow for rocket stages to be assembled and transferred" to the tower when it's dark or heavily clouded, the website said.
"Moreover, since the entire launch pad area is now clear of snow, any movement by the structure cannot be determined," it said.
North Korea claimed in December 2012 that it successfully launched a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit. Seoul and its allies condemned it as a disguised test for an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The 2012 launch sparked concern about North Korea's ability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to mount on a missile. Concern about North Korean missiles grew in South Korea last year when Pyongyang said it had successfully conducted a rare test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
North Korea's nuclear and missile programs have invited international condemnation and sanctions. But the North has continued to upgrade its launch site with an extended launchpad for a bigger, multi-stage missile.
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Park Sae-jin
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