North Korea on Monday denied that it was preparing to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile and said the bustle around its east coast launch site was instead for "space development."
"One will come to know later what will be launched in the DPRK," a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, dpa reported.
Intelligence reports from South Korea and the United States have said that activity around the launch site indicated North Korea is planning a test of its Taepodong-2 intercontinental missile.
The Taepodong-2, when technically perfected, could reach the US state of Alaska and carry a nuclear warhead, according to the US military.
The North Korean statement was released amid speculation that North Korea is planning a military rocket test under the guise of a satellite launch, as it did in 1998 when it sent a Taepodong-1 over Japanese territory and later said it had sent up a satellite.
"Space development is the independent right of the DPRK and the requirement of the developing reality," the KCNA said on the day North Korea was celebrating the 67th birthday of leader Kim Jong Il with state-organized activities.
It blamed "dishonest forces" for the reports of preparations for a long-range missile.
"This is a vicious trick to put a brake on the wheel of not only the DPRK's building of military capability for self-defence but also scientific researches for peaceful purpose," it said.
North Korea test-fired a Taepodong-2 missile in July 2006, but the United States said the launch failed.
Three months later, North Korea carried out its first nuclear test, which was condemned worldwide.
The reports of a potential missile launch came at a time of rising tensions between North and South Korea and immediately after a new administration took office in the United States as the two allies seek to coax North Korea back to the nuclear negotiating table.
Pyongyang threatened Seoul with annihilation several times over the past weeks and in late January scrapped bilateral reconciliation agreements and nullified an agreement over its sea border with the South. It accuses South Korea of pursuing a confrontational policy.
Relations between the two Koreas have soured after South Korean President Lee Myung Bak scrapped the so-called Sunshine Policy of his liberal predecessors and adopted a tougher course toward Pyongyang, demanding progress in dismantling the North's nuclear weapons programme in exchange for aid.