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North Korea's long-range rocket, scheduled to put what it says is a satellite into orbit next week, has been installed on its launch platform, the country’s space officials have said.

Engineers said on Sunday that the satellite will orbit the earth and send back data for weather forecasts and crop surveys.

Officials said they have moved all three stages of the rocket into position, vowing to push ahead with their plan in defiance of international warnings (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/03/20123179612778569.html).

"To say this is a missile test is really nonsense[/color].[/color]" [/color]- Jang Myong-Jin, head of the space centre[/color][/b][/size]

The communist nation organised an unprecedented visit to Tongchang-ri space centre to show that the Unha-3 rocket is not a disguised ballistic missile, as claimed by the US and its allies, notably South Korea and Japan.

"To say this is a missile test is really nonsense," Jang Myong-Jin, head of the space centre, said.

"This launch was planned long ago, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of (late) president Kim Il-Sung. We are not doing it for provocative purposes."

For the first time, North Korea allowed some 50 foreign journalists to go to the new space centre built on the Cholsan peninsula, 50km from the Chinese border.

The journalists were able to observe the rocket, painted in white with sky blue lettering, installed on a platform ahead of its scheduled launch sometime between April 12-16.

The US, Japan, Britain and other nations have urged the isolated nation to cancel the launch, warning that firing the long-range rocket would violate UN resolutions and North Korea's promise to refrain from engaging in nuclear and missile activity.

North Korea maintains that the launch is meant to showcase its scientific achievement (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/03/2012316134917812937.html).

Last month, Japan’s Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said Tokyo could shoot down a North Korean rocket (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/03/2012330605360577.html) if it entered Japanese airspace.

It even deployed a land-based system of interceptor missiles (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/04/201245164632450178.html) in preparation for the planned rocket launch.

China, North Korea's main foreign ally, has also expressed its concerns (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/03/20123179612778569.html).

The US on March 29 suspended food aid to the North (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/03/201232818813416452.html) saying Pyongyang had broken its promise to refrain from missile launches and cannot be trusted to deliver the aid to those who need it.

Al Jazeera

yes, thats the big news today

Washington, Japan and South Korea have all condemned the move, saying any missile would contravene United Nations sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea's missile programme. China, the North's major ally, has urged restraint.
There are also heightened fears that the novice administration of the young Kim could be readying for a third nuclear weapons test.
For the first time, North Korea allowed some 50 foreign journalists to go to the new space centre built on the Cholsan peninsula, in the northwest of North Korea, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Chinese border.
The journalists, who arrived by special train, were able to observe the rocket from 50 metres (165 feet). It was painted in white with sky blue lettering. There were no indications when it would blast off.
The rocket, whose imminent launch saw Japan on Saturday deploy missile batteries in central Tokyo, is 30 metres high and with a diameter of 2.5 metres.
Reporters were also able to see close-up what officials said was the satellite: a 100-kilo (220 pounds) box with five antennae, covered by solar panels to supply it with electricity.


Preparations are under way in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri, where the North carried out the two previous nuclear tests, a South Korean official in Seoul told AFP on Sunday on condition of anonymity.
Pyongyang's move to fire a rocket in the next week led the US to suspend a recent deal to offer food aid to the North in return for a freeze on some nuclear and missile activities, drawing an angry reaction from North Korea.
In response to the rocket, Japan has deployed missile batteries in downtown Tokyo and dispatched destroyers.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has given the green light to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japan's territory.
Patriot missiles were Saturday deployed at the defence ministry in central Tokyo and at two other bases in the region to protect the greater Tokyo area and its population of around 35 million.
The ministry also dispatched three Aegis destroyers carrying interceptor missiles, reportedly to the East China Sea, where it has already deployed Patriot missiles on the southern island chain of Okinawa, beneath the rocket's forecast flight path.