North Korea plans to launch rocket soon, likely carrying its 2nd military spy satellite

Seoul: North Korea announced plans to launch a rocket apparently carrying its second military spy satellite during an eight-day period starting Monday, drawing quick, strong rebukes from neighbours South Korea and Japan.

The notification of the planned launch, banned under UN resolutions, came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Seoul for their first trilateral meeting in more than four years.

Japan’s coast guard said it was notified by North Korea about its planned launch of a “satellite rocket”, with a warning of caution in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and China and east of the main Philippine island of Luzon beginning Monday through midnight

June 3.