Ryu Gum Chol, deputy director of space exploration in the Department of Space Technology of North Korea speaks to the international media in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, April 10, 2012. North Korean space officials said Tuesday that all assembly and preparations for a planned satellite launch have been completed, while denying it is a cover for missile test. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Ryu Gum Chol, deputy director of space exploration in the Department of Space Technology of North Korea speaks to the international media in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, April 10, 2012. North Korean space officials said Tuesday that all assembly and preparations for a planned satellite launch have been completed, while denying it is a cover for missile test. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
A North Korean man adjusts flags put up ahead of the Workers' Party Conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, April 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
This March 31, 2012 satellite image released by GeoEye Monday April 9, 2012 shows continued activity at the launch pad of the Tongchang-ri Launch Facility on North Korea's western coast. The image shows vehicles on the launch pad, nearby fuel and oxidizer containers and a crane above the launch tower that has been placed "directly over the mobile launch platform, the position necessary to erect the rocket", according to an analysis by IHS Jane's Defense Weekly. North Korea says it plans to launch a satellite into space from the launch pad to mark the 100th anniversary of national founder Kim Il Sung's birth. (AP Photo/GeoEye/IHS Global)
North Korean soldiers stands in front of the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea on Sunday April 8, 2012. North Korean space officials have moved a long-range rocket into position for this week's controversial satellite launch, vowing Sunday to push ahead with their plans in defiance of international warnings against violating a ban on missile activity. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Ryu Kum Chol, deputy director of space exploration in the Department of Space Technology of North Korea, speaks to the international media in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, April 10, 2012. North Korean space officials said Tuesday that all assembly and preparations for a planned satellite launch have been completed, while denying it is a cover for missile test. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? Engineers are pumping fuel into a rocket that is set to carry a satellite into space, officials at the North Korean space agency's central command center said Wednesday, showing reporters a live feed of the west coast launch pad.
The live images of the Sohae site showed most of the Unha-3 rocket covered with a green tarp. The Kwangmyongsong-3 earth observation satellite, which was not visible in the feed, has been mounted and is draped with the tarp to protect it from the wind, Paek Chang Ho, chief of the General Launch Command Center, told reporters.
He said the rocket was ready for liftoff as early as Thursday, the start of a five-day window set for the controversial launch timed to coincide with mid-April celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
"We are injecting fuel as we speak," Paek told reporters from a viewing platform in front of a large screen showing the live feed, as 16 scientists in white lab coats worked at computers below him. The central command center outside Pyongyang is where late leader Kim Jong Il and successor Kim Jong Un watched an April 2009 rocket launch, he said.
The United States, Britain, Japan and others have urged North Korea to cancel the upcoming launch, saying it would be considered a violation of U.N. resolutions prohibiting the country from nuclear and ballistic missile activity.
Experts say the Unha-3 carrier is similar to rockets that would be used to launch a long-range missile aimed at the U.S. and other targets. North Korea has tested two atomic devices but is not believed to have mastered the technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.
Along the road to the central command, new posters welcomed Workers' Party delegates who are scheduled to convene Wednesday for the fourth conference of North Korea's ruling political party. Kim Jong Un is expected to inherit new titles at the conference, including some held by his father, Kim Jong Il, who died in December.
Associated Presskatie couric barista university of kentucky ncaa oakland news alec baldwin alec baldwin
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