SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea told two U.N. agencies it plans to launch a communications satellite between April 4 and 8 — an unprecedented disclosure seen as trying to fend off international worries that the launch is really a test of long-range missile technology.
The notification to the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization underscores the communist regime is intent on pushing ahead with the launch in an attempt to gain greater leverage in negotiations with the United States, analysts say.
The U.S. and other governments have said any rocket launch — whether missile test or satellite — would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning North Korea from ballistic missile activity.
The U.N. agencies said Thursday that North Korea informed them by letter of the launch details the day before. It is the first time the regime has offered a safety warning ahead of a missile or a satellite launch, according to the South Korean government.
Few buy Pyongyang’s claim that it needs a communications satellite when one of the nation’s stated top national goals is addressing chronic food shortages. Use of mobile phones and the Internet and international calls are tightly controlled.
