PYONGYANG, North Korea, March 29 (UPI) -- North Korea said it would allow foreign experts and reporters access to satellite facilities so they could observe the satellite launch next month.
The move comes amid widespread international criticism of the North's plans to go ahead with the launch, which South Korea and the United States believe is actually a ballistic missile test banned under a U.N. resolution, Yonhap reported.
The North provided rare technical details about the earth-observation satellite, disclosing the 220-pound satellite would orbit at an altitude of about 310 miles for two years.
"We will organize special visits going beyond the international usage to show with transparency the peaceful, scientific and technological nature of the satellite," an official of the Korean Committee for Space Technology said Wednesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported.
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Foreign delegations will be taken to a launch site before the launch and later to the General Satellite Control and Command Center in Pyongyang where they will "see the satellite being launched in a relevant place," the official said.
The North didn't say which foreign delegations would visit for what would be the first outside observation of a rocket launch in the country.
The satellite, mounted with a video camera, "will assess the distribution of forests and natural resources" of the North and "collect data necessary for weather forecast, natural resources prospecting and others," the official told KCNA.
The mid-April launch is timed for the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth.
An image taken Wednesday by DigitalGlobe shows what appear to be trucks near the North Korean launch pad, while a crane arm on the tower has been swung wide, CNN reported. Joseph Bermudez, a senior analyst for DigitalGlobe, said he could see no sign the booster or first stage of the rocket had been moved to the pad, which South Korean news organizations have reported.
"It does confirm a higher level of activity within the overall facility and significant activity at the launch pad specifically," Bermudez said. "This activity appears consistent with preparations for a satellite launch."
North Korea plans the launch for some time between April 12 and April 16. Kim Il Sung, founder of the regime now headed by his grandson, was born April 15, 1912.
The launch will violate North Korea's most recent agreement with the United States as well as Security Council resolutions, The Washington Post said.
