North Korea says it will launch satellite

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- North Korea, in its first official response to intelligence reports that it would test fire a missile, said Tuesday it were preparing to launch a satellite.

The North didn't say when the launch would take place but government officials in South Korea said it probably would occur in a week or two, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

"Outer space is an asset common to mankind and its use for peaceful purposes has become a global trend," a spokesman for the North's Korean Committee of Space Technology said.

An "experimental communications satellite" called Kwangmyongsong-2 will be launched, the spokesman said, adding that preparations were proceeding at a fast pace at Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in the country's northeast region.

The statement was North Korea's first official comment about its preparations to launch a satellite after weeks of South Korean and U.S. intelligence reports indicated North Korea may test-fire a long-range missile, the South Korean news agency said.

An expert in Seoul said North Korea could be launching a satellite for mobile communications and to gather military and weather information.