ROK renews condemnation of DPRK's satellite launch

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) on Monday renewed its condemnation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its plan to launch an observation satellite into space on a new long-range rocket, calling the move "an act of great provocation."

"The government defines North Korea (DPRK)'s plan to launch a so-called working satellite as an act of great provocation involving the development of a long-distance delivery means for nuclear weapons using ballistic missile technology," Park Jeong-ha, a spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa-dae, said.

The government will discuss the matter with the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the European Union during the Nuclear Security Summit, to be held here next week, Park said after President Lee Myung-bak presided over a security meeting.

The condemnation came after the DPRK's space technology committee announced it will go ahead with its plan to launch a " polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite" on an Unha-3 rocket between April 12 and 16 to mark the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country's founding leader.

ROK foreign ministry promptly responded to the announcement, saying in a statement last week the planned missile launch will violate UN Security Council Resolution 1874 banning all launches using ballistic missile technology.

The DPRK has claimed the April launch will "strictly abide by relevant international regulations."

The country test-fired a long-range missile in 2009.

Earlier, the DPRK asserted its legitimate right of launching satellites, saying "double standard is intolerable," the official news agency KCNA said.

It said that countries, including the United States, Japan and ROK that have criticized the satellite launch as a "missile launch," are continuing their hostile policy toward the DPRK and encroach upon its sovereignty.