North Korea plans to launch a rocket soon that could carry second military spy satellite

North Korea said it would launch a rocket that may carry its second military spy satellite by early next week.

The announcement drew heavy criticism from neighbours South Korea and Japan.

North Korea notified Japan about the launch as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Seoul for their first trilateral meeting in more than four years.

The UN bans North Korea from conducting any satellite launches, viewing them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology.

Yet North Korea says it has the right to launch satellites and test missiles.

Japan’s coast guard said it was notified about North Korea's planned launch of a “satellite rocket," with safety cautioned in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and China and east of the Philippine island of Luzon for a week.

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

The launch is likely planned to put North Korea's second military spy satellite into orbit. North Korea sent its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit last November.

Senior diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the United States agreed to call on North Korea to abandon the launch.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry separately called a satellite launch by North Korea “a provocation that seriously threatens our and regional security".

Later on Monday, the country mobilised 20 fighter jets for a drill meant to demonstrate its resolve to punish North Korea in the event of provocation, according to South Korea’s military.