North Korea is building its largest missile to date and will launch the rocket on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the communist republic in September, a Japanese newspaper claims.
Dictator Kim Jong-un ordered the country's scientists to construct the 'Unha-4' missile last month, according to a North Korean defector.
It will be an upgraded version of Unha-3, a three-stage rocket last launched by North Korea in February 2016 which the regime claimed was a satellite carrier.
However, most in the international community viewed the launch of Unha-3, which carried the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite, as a disguised ballistic missile test.
Scientists have already started building Unha-4, but it will take another six months to ensure that it is ready for the anniversary celebrations on September 9, the unnamed defector told The Mainichi Shimbun according to the Telegraph.
This comes after South Korean media reported that Kim Jong-Un is building another satellite, the Kwangmyongsong-5, which may then be launched into space on the Unha-4.
North Korea is currently under multiple UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests and is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology - including satellites.
But Pyongyang has defended its right to launch satellites and develop its space technology, saying that satellite launches 'absolutely correspond' with international laws concerning space development.
At a UN General Assembly committee meeting in October, North Korea's deputy UN ambassador Kim In-ryong said his country has a 2016 to 2020 plan to develop 'practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people's living'.
He stressed North Korea's right to produce and launch satellites 'will not be changed just because the US denies it'.
North Korea is believed to have successfully put a satellite into orbit in December 2012 after years of failures dating back to 1998 when it launched a pilot satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-1.
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