N Korea prepares for 'space launch'
North Korea has said it is in full-fledged preparations to shoot a satellite into orbit, its clearest reference yet to an impending launch, which neighbours and the US believe will be an illicit test of a long-range missile.
The statement from the North's space technology agency came amid international concern the communist nation is gearing up to fire its most advanced Taepodong-2 missile, which would violate a UN Security Council resolution.
Last week, the country said it has the right to "space development".
North Korea has in the past used terms like "space development" or "satellite" to disguise a missile test.
When it test-fired a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile over Japan in 1998, it claimed to have put a satellite into orbit.
"Full-fledged preparations are under way to launch the pilot communications satellite Kwangmyongsong number two," at the launch site in Hwadae in the country's north-east, the North's agency said in a statement, carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
Hwadae is widely believed to be the launch site for the North's longest-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is believed capable of reaching Alaska.
Analysts have warned for weeks that the North may fire a missile to send a strong signal to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took office a year ago with a hard-line policy on North Korea, and to new US President Barack Obama.
North Korea is banned from any ballistic missile activity under a UN Security Council resolution adopted after the North's first-ever nuclear test in 2006.
South Korea, Japan and the US have warned Pyongyang not to fire a missile. Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the North to stop its "provocative actions," saying a missile test would "be very unhelpful."