Fuel tankers arrive at in Pyongyang's rocket launch pad

SEOUL & TOKYO, Feb 6: Recent satellite imagery shows the arrival of tanker trucks at the launch pad of North Korea’s rocket site, indicating that the tion is forging ahead with a planned launch, the media reported on Saturday.

The imagery taken of Dongchang-ri site on Wednesday and Thursday showed the tanker trucks at the old fuel and oxidizer bunkers, a website that monitors North Korea said in a report on Friday, adding that the trucks’ presence more likely indicates the filling of tanks within the bunkers than the fueling of the rocket, The Korea Herald reported.

“In the past, such activity has occurred one to two weeks prior to a launch event and would be consistent with North Korea’s announced launch window,” the website said.

North Korea has informed intertiol organisations it will launch an earth observation satellite between February 8-25, confirming widespread concern it is readying for a banned long-range rocket launch just weeks after its fourth nuclear test.

Pyongyang has long argued its rocket launches are aimed at putting satellites into orbit, claiming it has the right to the peaceful use of space. But the country is banned from such launches under UN Security Council resolutions as it has been accused of using them as a cover for testing intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Meanwhile, a report from Tokyo has claimed that North Korea has moved forward its launch-window for a test rocket by a day besides considerably rrowing the period, the Japanese government said on Saturday.

Pyongyang now plans to conduct the launch — which has drawn condemtion from neighbours South Korea and Japan — between February 7 and 14, Kyodo news agency reported. The earlier launch-window was from February 8 to 25. The areas where debris would fall remain unchanged. Though North Korea says it is putting a satellite into orbit, the launch is viewed by others as a front for a ballistic missile test. (IANS)