N. Korea prepares to launch new long-range rocket

Pyongyang

North Korea is preparing to launch a new, long-range rocket, possibly in October, having completed an upgrade at its main satellite launch base.

Any such launch would almost certainly be viewed by the international community as a disguised ballistic missile test and result in the imposition of fresh sanctions.

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un had ordered the launch of a satellite to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North's ruling Workers' Party on October 10.

"We think (the North) will carry out a provocation around the 70th anniversary," the source said.

The South Korean Defence Ministry declined to confirm or deny the Yonhap report.

"As to the construction of North Korea's long-range missile launching facilities, we've been watching the North's moves very closely," a ministry spokesman said.

According to the Yonhap source, North Korea has completed work on an extended 67-metre (220-foot) gantry capable of handling a rocket twice the size of the 30-metre Unha-3 rocket launched in December, 2012.

The Unha-3 launch was widely condemned overseas as a ballistic missile test and triggered additional UN sanctions.

North Korea, which insisted the launch was purely scientific in nature, responded three months later by conducting its a third nuclear test -- the most powerful to date.