North Korea may be preparing for missile launch: Japan gov't source

Signs of the apparent preparations for a missile launch from Dongchang-ri come while U.N. Security Council members envisage toughening sanctions against Pyongyang following its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 in defiance of past Security Council resolutions.
The reclusive country's supposed action could be aimed at flouting the council and any plans among its members to tighten sanctions over the latest nuclear detonation.
Since the Security Council has also demanded in past resolutions that North Korea refrain from using ballistic missile technology, a new launch, coupled with the last nuclear test, would likely step up calls for more stringent measures to punish North Korea.
Pyongyang last engaged in long-range ballistic missile activity in December 2012, calling it a satellite launch. North Korea also tested what it called a submarine-launched ballistic missile in 2015.
In September, the director of North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration said the agency was "pushing forward at a final phase the development of a new earth observation satellite for weather forecast, etc.," according to a report by the official Korean Central News Agency.
On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the United States and China, two key members of the U.N. Security Council, met in Beijing to discuss measures to be taken by the international community in the wake of the North's nuclear test.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi exposed differences about how best to approach the problem. Kerry pressed China to use more of its leverage over North Korea as its most important backer, while Wang reiterated China's reluctance to impose very severe sanctions, saying a new resolution should not heighten tensions.