Seoul, South Korea (CNN)[Breaking news update, posed at 7:48 p.m. ET]
North Korea has launched a long-range "missile," a South Korean defense ministry official told CNN Sunday.
[Previous story, posted at 5:09 p.m. ET]
North Korea has moved up the launch window for a rocket by one day, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Saturday.
The new window, which was also narrowed, is February 7-14; the old window was February 8-25. The areas where debris would fall remain unchanged.
The announcement comes just days after the reclusive country's initial launch plans came to light, which drew condemnation from South Korea and Japan. And it means blastoff could come as early as 7 a.m. Sunday in North Korea (5:30 p.m. ET Saturday).
Though North Korea says it's putting a satellite into orbit, the launch is viewed by others as a front for a ballistic missile test.
U.S. officials have said the same type of rocket used to launch the satellite could deliver a nuclear warhead.
"Forcing the launch is a clear violation against the [United Nations Security Council] resolution and a serious provocation against the security to our country," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Officials for the International Maritime Organization and the International Telecommunications Union each told CNN that North Korea informed their respective organizations that it intends to launch a satellite.
( Source )