North Korea has notified a U.N. maritime agency that it changed the planned time it will launch a long-range rocket to between Feb. 7 and 14, a South Korean government official said Saturday.
On Tuesday, the North declared to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) it will launch a satellite between Feb. 8 and 25.
Earlier today, the Japanese government confirmed Pyongyang's plan to change the launch period by moving it forward, according to Japan's Kyodo News
“We are in the process of confirming this since there is so much information," Japan's defense minister Gen Nakatani was quoted saying by Kyodo News.
Experts previously expected that the North would likely launch the rocket around Feb. 16, the birthday of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who died due to heart failure in late 2011.