SEOUL: South Korea said Thursday it has detected preparations by rival North Korea to fire a long-range rocket and warned that Seoul will shoot down any rocket parts flying over South Korean territory.

North Korea told international organizations Tuesday that it will launch an observation satellite aboard a rocket between Feb. 8 and 25. South Korea, the United States and others call the plans a cover for a banned test of a missile that could strike the US mainland.

The launch announcement follows an outpouring of global condemnation over the North’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6. Seoul and Washington have also denounced the rocket launch plan, but if North Korea’s past patterns are any clue, angry warnings probably won’t dissuade a coming launch.

South Korean defense officials said Thursday that the North is pushing ahead with the launch plans at its Tongchang-ri launch site on its west coast. They refused to provide details because they said they involve confidential intelligence on the North.

Recent commercial satellite images showed an increased number of vehicles at North Korea’s Sohae launch station on Feb. 1, compared to a week earlier. This suggests that the North is preparing for a space launch in coming weeks, according to 38 North, a North Korea-focused website run by the U.S-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

However, the website said it was impossible to tell from the satellite imagery whether a space launch vehicle was present.

South Korean and US officials said a launch would threaten regional security and violate UN Security Council resolutions that ban the North from engaging in any nuclear and ballistic activities.

Diplomats at the UN Security Council have already pledged to pursue fresh sanctions on North Korea over its recent nuclear test.

South Korea’s president on Thursday called for strong UN sanctions that will make North Korea realize it cannot survive if it does not abandon its weapons programs.