North Korea said it may delay a much-criticised rocket launch originally scheduled for as early as Monday, as analysts say its efforts to mark a key anniversary were hampered by technical troubles.
Scientists were “now seriously examining the issue of readjusting the launching time of the satellite for some reasons”, the Korean Committee of Space Technology said in a statement carried by state media on Sunday.
The committee gave no further details.
In a report late on Sunday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing a government official in Seoul, said the North had stopped all preparations at the launch site in the country’s northwest.
Analysts said technical problems or snow, rather than overseas political pressure, are likely to be behind the delay in what the North calls a satellite launch, originally scheduled for between December 10 and 22.
Some said the North’s new leader, Kim Jong-un, may have been rushing the blast-off in a bid to mark the first anniversary of the death of his father and ex-ruler Kim Jong-il on December 17.