N. Korea plans rocket launch within days

NEW: South Korea says the satellite launch is a long-range rocket test fire in disguise North Korea says the rocket will carry a working satellite into orbit Its last attempt to launch a rocket from the Sohae site was a failure Previous rocket launches have drawn international condemnation (CNN) -- North Korea plans to launch a rocket carrying a satellite between December 10 and 22, a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said Saturday, according to state-run media. The Unha-3 rocket will launch from the Sohae Space Center in North Phyongan Province and put a "working satellite" into orbit, the report by news agency KCNA said. The planned launch is unusual because it comes only months after a failed attempt in April and during the wintertime. On that occasion, Pyongyang also said the rocket was supposed to put a satellite into orbit, but the launch was seen by many other countries as cover for a ballistic missile test and drew international condemnation. Scientists and technicians have analyzed the mistakes made in April and worked to improve the reliability and precision of the satellite and carrier rocket this time round, KCNA reported. The polar-orbiting earth observation satellite will blast off southward on a trajectory designed so that parts of the carrier rocket that fall off during the launch will not land on neighboring nations, the news agency said. It said North Korea had acted with "utmost transparency" on the last occasion and would "fully comply with relevant international regulations and usage" this time too. Echoing its response to April's launch, South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a preliminary statement: "The so-called working satellite is a test fire of long-range rocket in disguise and it is clearly in violation of U.N. security council resolution 1874." Another big rocket launch by North Korea could further sour its relations with the United States and South Korea. The failed launch in April scuppered a deal for Washington to provide thousands of tons of food aid to the North's malnourished population. It also drew criticism from the U.N. Security Council, which repeated demands for Pyongyang not to carry out similar tests in the future. CNN's KJ Kwon, Jethro Mullen and Joseph Netto contributed to this report.