US warships to monitor North Korean satellite rocket launch.

US warships to monitor North Korean satellite rocket launch.(RT).US warships are heading towards North Korea to get the “best situational awareness” prior to a controversial planned rocket launch. The communist state hopes to launch a satellite into orbit, allegedly using technology banned by the UN.
Washington is keeping tabs on North Korea’s proposed rocket launch this month by sending warships equipped with advanced radar and other ballistic missile defense systems to the region.
The US military will be watching the planned launch “very closely,”Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III said. Locklear added that any launch of long-range missiles would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The move comes after Pyongyang showed no signs of aborting what will be its second rocket launch this year, with a launch date set for between December 10th and 22nd. Satellite pictures revealed that snowfall may have prevented Pyongyang from preparing the rocket for launch, according to GeoEye satellite images provided to AP. However, unnamed officials in Seoul said that all three stages of the ‘Unha’ rocket had been successfully mounted on the launch pad by Wednesday.
The US and other nations claim the launch is a cover to test long-range missile technology banned under UN resolutions. Pyongyang insists that the launch is solely to put a satellite into orbit.
North Korea launched a similar rocket in April 2012, which crashed into the waters off the Korean peninsula shortly after liftoff.
Previously, Japan announced it would shoot down the North Korean missile if it appeared to threaten Japanese security. Tokyo has issued an order to its military to shoot down any rocket debris that infringes on its territory.
The Japanese Navy has deployed two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 batteries on board the JDS Kunisaki on the island of Ishigaki, located roughly 400 kilometers southwest of Okinawa. Patriot systems are also being deployed on Okinawa. Based on coordinates provided by Pyongyang, the rocket is expected to fly south, with its stages dropping into the sea west of the Korean peninsula and then east of the Philippines.Read the full story here.

Update: N.Korea filling up 2 fuel tanks at missile launch site.

North Korea is filling up two fuel tanks at its missile launch site in Tongchang-ri in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, where it erected a long-range rocket, a South Korean military source said Friday, adding that Pyongyang says liftoff will come as early as Monday.
The source said Seoul has spotted increased activity of personnel and vehicles near the fuel storage area of the launch site. As soon as the North completes filling the storage tanks with fuel, he said, it is expected to supply the rocket with fuel.