North Korea to launch satellite this month, U.N. agency says

February 2, 2016

(CNN)North Korea has indicated that it will launch a satellite sometime between February 8-25, a United Nations agency said Tuesday — a launch that has drawn U.S. concerns because of the rocket that would be used.

North Korea told the International Telecommunications Agency on Tuesday that it intends to launch an earth observation satellite, ITU spokesman Sanjay Acharya said. The ITU registers all satellite transmission frequencies to ensure there is no cross-satellite interference.

The launch could raise international tensions. U.S. officials have said the same type rocket that would put the satellite into orbit could also be used on a different occasion as an intercontinental ballistic missile.

A similar scenario unfolded in 2012, when North Korea announced it was launching a rocket carrying a satellite. North Korea said that operation was for peaceful purposes, but Japan, the United States and South Korea decried it as a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test.

The United States has been anticipating a new launch.

In recent days, U.S. satellites have spotted activity at a launch station in North Korea, and the United States has assessed that the North has assembled all the elements, equipment and technology for the launch of a satellite atop a long range rocket, and that a launch could happen at any point, several U.S. officials told CNN.

Tuesday’s announcement comes about a month after North Korea bragged about what it said was the “spectacular success” of its first hydrogen bomb test on January 6. A U.S. official directly familiar with an assessment of the test said last week there may have been a partial, failed test of some type of components associated with a hydrogen bomb.

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