North Korea informs Japan of a plan to launch military spy satellite

North Korea has told Japan it plans to launch a satellite by early next week, an apparent effort to put its second military spy satellite into orbit.

The launch notification came as leaders of South Korea, Japan and China gathered in Seoul for their first trilateral meeting Monday.

Japan’s coast guard said it was notified by North Korea about its planned launch of a “satellite rocket," with safety cautioning in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and China and east of the Philippine island of Luzon beginning Monday and running through midnight June 3.

North Korea gives Japan its launch information because Japan’s coast guard coordinates and distributes maritime safety information in East Asia.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed officials to cooperate with the United States, South Korea and other countries to strongly request North Korea not to go ahead with the launch and to take utmost measures in case of any contingency, his office said.

The launch plan likely refers to the North’s push to launch its second military spy satellite into space. South Korea’s military said Friday it detected signs that North Korea was engaging in activities believed to be preparations to launch a spy satellite at its main Tongchangri launch facility in the northwest.

Last November, North Korea sent its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit as part of its efforts to build a space-based surveillance network to cope with it calls U.S.-led military threats. North Korea has said it needs spy satellites to better monitor the U.S. and South Korea's moves and enhance the precision-strike capability of its nuclear-capable missiles.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later told a year-end governing party meeting that the country would launch three additional military spy satellites in 2024.

The UN bans North Korea from conducting any satellite launches, viewing them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology. North Korea has steadfastly maintained it has the right to launch satellites and test missiles.

The North’s November satellite launch deepened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with both Koreas taking steps to breach their 2018