EU 'deeply concerned' over N. Korea rocket launch

(BRUSSELS) - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton joined international condemnation of North Korean plans to launch a satellite next month, using a long-range rocket.

A statement from her office said she was "deeply concerned" by the announcement from Pyongyang Friday that it would fire the rocket between April 12-16.

"This launch would be contrary to (North Korea's) international obligations, in particular under UN Security Council resolution 1874," said the statement.

UN Security Council resolution 1874, passed after the North's missile launch and nuclear test in 2009, bans the country from carrying out ballistic missile launches for any purpose.

"It would also undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts to create an environment conducive for the resumption of the Six-Party Talks on the nuclear issue," the statement added, calling on North Korea to reconsider.

Pyongyang quit six-party nuclear disarmament talks after the UN Security Council condemned its last long-range rocket launch on April 5, 2009 -- also purportedly to put a satellite into orbit -- and tightened sanctions.

The six nations involved in the talks were North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

While the US and other nations see the launch of the satellite as a disguised missile test, Pyongyang insists the satellite launch is part of peaceful space research.

It has said it will carry out the launch to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of its founding president Kim Il-Sung.