North Korea announced Saturday that it would attempt to launch a long-range rocket in mid-December, a defiant move just eight months after a failed April bid was widely condemned as a violation of a United Nations ban against developing its nuclear and missile programs.
Following North Korea's announcement, the U.S. State Department echoed a similar statement it made in April calling the attempt "highly provocative." "A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region," Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokesman said in a statement.