WORLD BRIEFING / NORTH KOREA

North Korea said today it is in full preparations to launch a satellite, an event that its neighbors and the U.S. believe will actually be a test of its most advanced Taepodong-2 missile, which would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Last week, the country said it had the right to “space development.” North Korea has in the past used terms like “space development” or “satellite” to disguise a missile test. When it test-fired a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile over Japan in 1998, it claimed to have put a satellite into orbit.

South Korea, Japan and the United States have said a missile launch would trigger sanctions.