North Korea Unlikely to Launch a Rocket at 70th Anniversary of Ruling Party

While the North Koreans have claimed they will launch one of their long-range rockets at the forthcoming 70th anniversary of the ruling party, no preparations have been spotted, a US research institute reported Thursday.

The only thing to have taken off so far are rumors Pyongyang is planning to launch a rocket on October 10, in a blustering effort to prop up rumors about their nuclear capabilities.

Unfortunately, the evidence just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, as analysts from the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said the claims are ungrounded. Their claims are based on recent commercial satellite photos of North Korea's main rocket launch site at Sohae. The researchers say that a launch is hardly possible by October 10 for they saw no evidence of preparations that should otherwise be in full swing by now.

However, new activity was spotted at the country’s nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, according to the research published by the institute on its website, 38 North. On September 17, a satellite detected four large vehicles parked near a tunnel entrance, concealed by camouflage netting, commonly used to disguise activity from overhead inspection.

However, the institute noted it wouldn’t make any allegations judging from such vague data and that such activity could indicate something like maintenance work. If the test does happen though, it will be the first for North Korea since 2006.

The UN Security Council condemned North Korea and imposed sanctions on the country for firing its first rocket into space in December 2012 and carrying out a nuclear test in February 2013.