Members of the foreign media are taken to visit the site of a rocket launch that North Korea says will carry a weather satellite into space, but which the United States and its allies have condemned as a disguised ballistic missile test.
10:56AM BST 09 Apr 2012
North Korea says the Unha-3 rocket will carry a weather satellite into space when it is launched between April 12 and 16 to coincide with the centenary of the country's founding father Kim Il-sung.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have said the rocket is a disguised ballistic missile test.
Dozens of members of the foreign media were taken by train to the Sohae (West Sea) Satellite Launch site.
Jang Myong Jin, the site's director, said the invitation was a 'bold decision' by the country's new leader Kim Jong-un, which aimed to prove that the rocket was being used for peaceful means.
"If it were a ballistic missile it would have to be hidden in an underground chamber, or would need to be carried aboard another vehicle for protection. If it were not, then it would be useless in a real war," he said.
North Korea agreed in February to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches in return for food aid, but that has all since unravelled with the North's rocket launch.
Japan and South Korea have said the rocket's launch would violate a UN Security Council resolution, and have warned of international consequences if it goes ahead.
"I believe the UN resolution did not forbid us launching a satellite using a launch vehicle. And according to international laws on space, which are above a UN resolution, every country is independent in space development and has sovereign rights in the matter. I see no reason why the DPRK should be excluded from development in space," Jang said.
