“Our concern though is that they do a space launch, but really it’s the same technology to develop ICBMs”, one anonymous official told the news agency.
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The analysis comes just three weeks after North Korea drew global condemnation for conducted its fourth nuclear test explosion.
Pyongyang said the blast earlier this month was a miniaturised hydrogen bomb, though experts have largely dismissed the claim.
Evaluation of satellite images indicated preparations were under way to get a rocket or missile launch, perhaps inside a week, the officials said.
The site is also reportedly fortified with automated systems, and rails are set up to move rocket components quickly for final assembly and launch, according to Yonhap news agency. USA officials say the Asian nation is preparing for a space launch.
The suspicions are based on overhead satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on North Korea’s western coast.
It said the key to resolving tensions with North Korea, officially called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, lies with the US giving up its “antagonistic approach wrought from a Cold War mentality”.
North Korea last launched a long-range ballistic missile in December 2012, claiming it was to put a satellite in space, a claim the worldwide community did not buy.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing would tread lightly when making the request to North Korea.
Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said his government would continue to cooperate with nations such as the USA and South Korea to urge North Korea to refrain from “provocative action” and comply with United Nations resolutions.
Kim said the ministry was collecting and analysing information on the THAAD to determine the military feasibility of the mobile missile defence system. “There’s nothing to indicate it’s ballistic missile related”, he said.
Kim added that worldwide law would oblige the North Koreans to declare a long-range rocket test. “North Korea in the past had launched short-range missile without internationally declaring (a) navigation zone, but as for long-range missile they will have to internationally declare a no fly-zone”, he added.
North Korea may be preparing a launching test for an apparent long-range ballistic missile.
The Pyongyang government is already under sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes.
“As the North conducted the latest nuclear test in a hit-and-run manner without notifying China or the USA, we assess that it could similarly stage a major provocation in the future”.
Kishida and Kerry reaffirmed their cooperation in seeking the adoption of a resolution imposing tougher sanctions on Pyongyang.
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Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, declined to comment on possible pre-launch activities by North Korea, Reuters reported.
