N Korea: Rocket launch not contradictory to nuke deal with US

North Korea said that its planned rocket launch has nothing to do with a recent nuclear deal with the United States, in an apparent diplomatic offensive to fend off growing international pressure over its latest provocation. The North's "launch of satellite has nothing to do with" its agreement with the US, South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency reported, quoting the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying late Monday. "The launch of the working satellite is an issue fundamentally different from that of a long-range missile," the commentary said, adding that the planned launch poses no problem. The commentary came amid international concern that the planned launch will heighten tension on the Korean Peninsula and unravel the nuclear accord between Pyongyang and Washington. The development came just weeks after the communist country agreed to temporarily put a moratorium on missile and nuclear tests and freeze its uranium-enrichment facilities in exchange for 240,000 tons of food aid from the United States. South Korea condemned North Korea's planned launch as a "grave provocation" aimed at developing a long-range ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The US has also said a North Korean launch would be "highly provocative" and a deal-breaker, noting a launch would make the implementation of a food aid agreement "quite difficult." The North claimed, however, the satellite launch will raise its international prestige and mark a historic occasion of proving its "space science and technology has made another big stride," the KCNA said in a separate dispatch late Monday. The launch is timed for the centennial of the birth of the country's late founder Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, and alongside South Korea's parliamentary elections slated for April 11.