Washington has reaffirmed its position that Pyongyang’s planned satellite launch is a breach of UN Security Council resolutions. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense told Yonhap News on Sunday that any North Korean launch utilizing ballistic missile technology, including those related to the use of space launch vehicles(SLVs), amounts to violations of multiple UNSC resolutions.

The spokesperson said the U.S. urges the North to refrain from additional illegal activities and engage in serious and sustained diplomacy. 

Earlier, Japanese media outlets including Kyodo News reported that the North notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite between Wednesday and June 11. 

In response, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno held a press conference on Monday and said the North’s decision to fire a missile poses a threat to peace and stability in the international community, calling the North’s move a “serious provocation.”

While UNSC resolutions target the North’s nuclear and missile programs, rockets used for satellite launches are viewed as employing the same technologies as those for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles(ICBMs).