PYONGYANG ANNOUNCES IMPENDING ROCKET LAUNCH

Less than a month after its purported H-bomb test, North Korea announced Tuesday it is planning a rocket launch as soon as next week.

North Korea’s announcement that it is preparing a rocket, which it made by informing international organizations of a Feb. 8-25 launch window, comes after what it claimed was its first H-bomb test on Jan. 6 and statements by American and Japanese officials that they were seeing heightened activity at its main rocket facility.

Although there are important differences, the United States and others have strongly criticized such rocket launches because similar technologies can be used in the development of ICBMs, which North Korea is banned from doing under UN restrictions.