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N.Korea rocket launch work 'underway'
North Korea is pushing ahead with a planned long-range rocket launch despite international condemnation, satellite images show, as Japan vowed Friday to shoot the projectile down if it poses a threat.
Works are underway to get the launchpad ready for the launch of the long-range rocket in North Korea between 12 and 16 April to mark the anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung
Images taken Thursday show work to prepare the launch pad appears under way, according to the 38 North website www.38north.org, which published several images taken by private US firm DigitalGlobe.
The nuclear-armed North insists it will go ahead in mid-April with what it calls the peaceful launch of a scientific satellite from its Tongchang-ri site in the far northwest.
The launch is scheduled between 12 and 16 April to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung.
The United States and other nations say the exercise is a disguised long-range missile test, calling the plan a provocative breach of UN resolutions and of a US-North Korean deal reached last month.
