By Alex Jensen
SEOUL, South Korea
North Korea appears to be preparing a long-range rocket launch, potentially as soon as October, according to government sources in South Korea.
“We think [the North] will carry out a provocation around the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party on October 10,” said one of the sources quoted by local news agency Yonhap.
The basis of the claim is satellite imagery showing North Korea’s near-completion of an upgrade to the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Dongchang-ri.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry has already gone on record warning that Pyongyang is likely to engage in provocative behavior in October.
It is feared that the new launch station could be capable of sending up a significantly larger missile than the Unha-3 that propelled a satellite less than three years ago.
While North Korea is barred from ballistic missile technology by the United Nations Security Council, only this week Pyongyang declared that it would continue to build its nuclear arsenal.
Of further concern to Seoul is the North’s deployment of artillery only 4.5 kilometers from South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island -- which was shelled in 2010.
The de facto western sea border that separates the Koreas has been the scene of several flashpoints since their war officially ended in 19
