North Korea gives notice of April rocket launch

The suspense is Killin me ! But seriously , this is developing into a standoff that may get out of hand ! If the North launches ! Then what ! Does the U.S. shoot the missile down ? How about Japan ? will this start a war ? Does North Korea have the balls to go there ? If the launch is successful ,And the Different stages fall into the ocean , Is North Korea Lying ? It seems kind of stupid to launch a satellite Atop a unproven Missile Any way ! I myself Hope for a Launch failure ! when it just clears the tower !!!

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has given global agencies notice of its plans to launch a satellite from April 4-8, an official said on Thursday in a move Washington has called "provocative" and views as a disguised long-range missile test.

Pyongyang gave notice it expects the first stage of the rocket to splash down in the East Sea, better known as the Sea of Japan, and the second stage to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, Yonhap news agency quoted sources familiar with the notice as saying.

The United States has said it could pursue a range of options against the North if it launches the missile, including squeezing it harder with U.N. sanctions imposed after separate missile and nuclear tests in 2006.

The launch notice adds to mounting tension on the divided Korean peninsula with Pyongyang saying it was on the edge of war, though many analysts doubt the North would send its poorly equipped military into a direct attack on the South.

North Korea said it has acceded to an international treaty on space exploration "as part of its preparations for launching ... an experimental communications satellite," its KCNA news agency reported.

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Lending a degree of credibility to Pyongyang's pledge to stage a rocket launch, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said it had been contacted by the North about its plans.

"We have received a letter and it contains dates, times and coordinates," Lee Adamson, a spokesman with the IMO said by telephone from London, confirming the dates as April 4-8.

He said a notice would soon be issued to maritime vessels, adding that the tests were scheduled to take place during daylight hours.

North Korea, which advised that the launch would take place from an east coast site that it had used for previous launches, said it had also notified the International Civil Aviation Organization so it could inform aircraft.

The U.S. Navy showed off to media on Thursday its Aegis-class destroyer USS Chaffee, which is in South Korea for joint South Korean-U.S. military drills and equipped to intercept missiles. Media reported last week that Japan and the United States might try to intercept any ballistic missile launched by the North.

The North says it would consider any shooting down of its rocket an act of war and has told South Korean commercial planes to keep away from its air space.

The North's official media has also described itself as the victim of planned aggression by South Korea and its U.S. ally, calling the joint military drills: "madcap and reckless saber rattling ... in a bid to make surprise pre-emptive strikes."

Adding to Pyongyang's fury, the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier group is sailing off the south coast as part of the military exercises with the South, where the United States permanently stations about 28,000 troops.