PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea announced plans today to blast a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket, a provocative move that could jeopardize a weeks- old agreement with the U. S. exchanging food aid for nuclear concessions.

The North agreed to a moratorium on longrange launches as part of the deal with Washington, but it argues that its satellite launches are part of a peaceful space program that is exempt from any international disarmament agreements. The U.S., South Korea and other critics say the rocket technology overlaps with belligerent uses and condemn the satellite program as a disguised way of testing military missiles in defiance of a U.N. ban.

The launch is to take place three years after a similar launch in April 2009 drew widespread censure.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department called the announcement of the launch “highly provocative.”

“Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with North Korea’s recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement, calling on Pyongyang to abide by its international oblications.

Japan urged Pyongyang to abandon the launch, calling it a violation of a U.N. resolution restricting the North’s use of ballistic missile technology, and South Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the plans a “grave provocation.”

The liftoff is slated for between April 12 and 16 from a west coast launch pad in North Phyongan province, a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in a statement carried by state media.

The plan comes as North Korea prepares to celebrate the April 15 centenary of the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung. Kim’s grandson, Kim Jong Un, has led the nation of 24 million since his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December.

“The window for the launch is important in terms of the domestic politics of the North,” said Daniel Pinkston, an expert on North Korea’s weapons programs at the International Crisis Group. He said the launch serves to underline North Korea’s military capabilities and reinforce Kim’s fledgling rule.

Kim Jong Il began grooming the son to take over as leader after suffering a stroke in 2008. Footage aired today on state-run TV showed Kim Jong Un observing the 2009 rocket launch.

Such a launch aims to reinforce unity at home by provoking new tensions that will allow its leadership to portray the country as beset by hostile forces. A third nuclear test could be next, Pinkston said.

The launch also jeopardizes the recent food aid deal with the U.S., he said.

“I can’t see how the U.S. is going to deliver this food aid,” he said. “I think this is going to kill it.”

North Korea agreed last month to suspend uranium enrichment, place a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, and to allow back U. N. weapons inspectors in exchange for much-needed food aid. Uranium enrichment is one way to make atomic bombs. In the past, North Korea has also weaponized plutonium for nuclear devices.

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