South Korea’s Defense Ministry is denying Japanese media reports that signs have been spotted which suggest North Korea intends to fire a medium-range ballistic missile into the East Sea soon.

Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily says that North Korea may seek to launch its “Nodong” missile soon based on satellite intelligence obtained by South Korea and the United States.

Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters Friday that the reports are based on speculation and that there is no intelligence that confirms the claim.

Won said that the “Nodong” missile that reportedly could be fired uses liquid fuel, not solid-state fuel, which is the claim made in some of the reports.