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North Korea has positioned what is thought to be a long-range missile on its launch pad, a U.S. counter-proliferation official said on Wednesday.
The official confirmed a Japanese media report.
North Korea recently informed a pair of U.N. agencies that it plans to launch a satellite. The launch is slated for sometime between April 4-8, according to Yonhap, South Korea’s state-sponsored news agency.
North Korea is technically capable of launching a rocket in as little as two to four days, according to Kim Taewoo, an expert at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, but who doubts a launch will come that soon.
It would not make sense for Pyongyang to make such a move after going through official channels with its plans, Kim said.
“The North could delay the launch if they experience problems with the weather, or within the leadership, but I don’t see any reason why they would fire it ahead of time,” Kim said.
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North Korea’s announcement has triggered international consternation. U.S. and South Korean officials have long said the North is actually preparing to test-fire a long-range missile under the guise of a satellite launch. 
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Japan said this month that it could shoot down the satellite that North Korean officials said they plan to launch. What the North Koreans would be testing may not be known until an actual launch.
A U.N. Security Council resolution in 2006 banned North Korea from conducting ballistic missile activity. Japanese officials said they could shoot down the object whether it is a missile or a satellite.
“As the U.N. resolutions prohibit (North Korea) from engaging in ballistic missile activities, we still consider it to be a violation of a technical aspect, even if (the North) claims it is a satellite. We will discuss the matter with related countries based on this view,” Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said this month.
The United States has no plans to shoot down the North Korean rocket, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday, but will raise the issue with the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang carries out a launch.
“We are doing our best to dissuade the North Koreans from going forward, because it is provocative action,” Clinton said. “It raises questions about their compliance with the Security Council Resolution 1718. And if they persist and go forward, we will take it up in appropriate channels.”
South Korea echoed Clinton’s statements.
“The South Korean government believes that if the North conducts its launch despite continuous warnings of the South Korean government and the international community, it is a provocative action that constitutes a serious threat to the security of northeast Asia and the Korean peninsula,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-Young…
