The government says it will raise issue at the U.N. Security Council if North Korea launches a rocket.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said Thursday that the launch would be an obvious violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718 since the same principles are applied to ballistic missile and satellite launches.

He also urged the communist state to halt its planned launch. It said if North Korea goes ahead with the rocket launch in defiance of the continuous warnings by the South Korean government and the international community, it would be a serious provocation and threat to the stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang announced it will put into orbit an experimental communication satellite sometime between April fourth and eighth. But South Korea, the United States and Japan suspect that North Korea's claim of a satellite launch is a cover for a long-range missile launch.