SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has loaded a Taepodong-2 rocket onto its launch pad and could "technically" launch it within three to four days, a South Korean newspaper said Thursday.
North Korea has declared its intention to launch a satellite into space between April 4 and 8. Regional powers suspect the North will use the launch to test its advanced missile technology and have warned such a move would trigger international sanctions.
Chosun Ilbo newspaper said U.S. spy satellites detected the rocket's positioning on the launch pad in Masudan-ni, although U.S. and South Korean intelligence officers predicted the rocket would not be loaded onto the launch pad until after the weekend.
It is "technically possible (for the North) to launch it within three to four days," the newspaper quoted an unnamed diplomatic source in South Koreas capital Seoul saying.
South Korea's Defence Ministry and the National Intelligence Service said Thursday they could not confirm the Chosun Ilbo report.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday during a visit to Mexico City that if North Korea fired a missile for any purpose, it would be a "provocative act" that would have a negative impact on multinational disarmament talks and violate a UN Security Council resolution that bars the country from ballistic activity.
