South Korea's defense chief on Friday ordered an active response to the possible satellite launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which said it will conduct the launch as early as next week.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo told an emergency meeting with key military commanders that the military should maintain an exceptional defense readiness mentally and physically.
Han ordered the commanders to respond actively to the launch, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
On Thursday, the ministry warned of intercepting debris from a DPRK-launched rocket if the part of fragments falls in South Korea's territory or territorial waters.
The DPRK informed international agencies on Tuesday of its plan to launch an earth observation satellite into orbit between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25 aboard a rocket.
The plan was announced a month after Pyongyang's claim on Jan. 6 that it had tested its first H-bomb, the fourth in total of its nuclear detonations.
