The Chinese government has indicated that Chinese experts have not been sent to North Korea to observe the North’s planned rocket launch.

The head of the department of Asian affairs at China’s Foreign Ministry, Luo Zhaohui, told Chinese Internet users that he had never heard Chinese experts were dispatched to North Korea for the observation of the rocket launch.

He added that some Chinese news outlets accepted North Korea’s invitation to have a firsthand look at the launch site on their own judgment.

North Korea invited foreign journalists and aerospace experts to the rocket launch, and China is known to be on the invitation list.