Report: North Korea begins fuelling rocket

US satellite data suggests North Korea may have already begun fuelling a rocket it plans to launch this month in the face of international opposition, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday, citing a US defence official.

Pyongyang has announced it will launch a satellite-bearing rocket sometime between February 8-25, which is around the time of the birthday on February 16 of late leader Kim Jong-Il, father of current supremo Kim Jong-Un.

The North insists its space programme is purely scientific in nature, but the United States and allies, including South Korea, say its rocket launches are aimed at developing an inter-continental ballistic missile capable of striking the US mainland.

North Korea “will finish preparations for the launch as soon as the next several days”, the unidentified US defence department official told the Asahi Shimbun.

Since Thursday, satellite images have shown increased movement of people and equipment around the launch pad and a fuel storehouse at North Korea’s Sohae satellite launch complex in the country’s northwest.

The United States judged that fuelling appears to have started as it has been monitoring Pyongyang’s movements via military intelligence.