North Korea says it is preparing to launch a satellite on one of its rockets, in what analysts fear could be a test launch of its longest-range missile.
The announcement follows weeks of angry rhetoric from Pyongyang aimed at the conservative government in Seoul and warnings that the Korean peninsula is on the brink of war.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a trip to Asia last week, warned North Korea against any provocative moves.
‘The preparations for launching an experimental communications satellite ... are now making brisk headway,’ North Korea's KCNA news agency said.
‘When this satellite launch proves successful, the nation's space science and technology will make another giant stride forward in building an economic power.’
Government officials in Seoul and Tokyo say they are closely watching developments, while security experts say the launch could take place in days or weeks.
North Korea received headlines in the region when it fired a missile over Japan in 1998, saying it had launched a satellite.
If the long-range rocket flies successfully, Pyongyang would have a missile with a maximum range of 6,700km, theoretically posing a direct security threat to the US.
North Korea has only once tested the long-range rocket, better known as the Taepodong-2, in 2006 when it flew for a few seconds and then exploded.
Proliferation experts have said the North, which also tested a nuclear device in 2006, does not have the technology to make a nuclear weapon small enough to mount as a warhead.
