South Korea on Monday condemned North Korea's planned rocket launch as a "grave provocation" aimed at developing a long-range ballistic missile todeliver nuclear weapons.
Seoul's presidential office issued the condemnation after President Lee Myung-bak presided over a meeting of foreign and security ministers to discuss the North's announcement that it will launch a long-range rocket next month to put an earth observation satellite into orbit.
"Our government defines North Korea's so-called working satellite launch plan as a grave provocation to develop a long-distance delivery means for nuclear weapons by using ballistic missile technology," presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha said.
South Korea will work closely together with the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the European Union during next week's Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul to deal with the issue, the spokesman said.
The March 26-27 summit will bring together U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other world leaders to discuss ways to make the world free of nuclear weapons, including preventing fissile materials from falling into the hands of terrorist groups.
On Friday, the North's space technology committee announced that the country's Unha-3 rocket carrying Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite will blast off from its satellite launching station in western North Korea between April 12 and 16.
The launch is to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, the committee said, adding that it set a safe flight route to ensure rocket debris won't have any impact on neighboring countries.
The North claims it is a sovereign right of the communist nation to launch a satellite.
But few believe the claim because the provocative regime has long used the pretext of a satellite launch to test long-range missiles believed to be capable of reaching as far as the western U.S.
Pyongyang's missile programs have long been considered a concern for regional security, along with its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The North is banned from any ballistic missile or nuclear activity under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
North Korea last conducted a long-range rocket test in 2009 in defiance of the international community, inviting widespread international condemnations. The country carried out its second-ever nuclear test a month later. (Yonhap)