N. Korea extends launch window

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea is pressing ahead with preparation for a long-range rocket launch after extending its liftoff window by another week until Dec. 29 because of technical problems.

It’s North Korea’s second attempt this year, and the fifth since 1998, to launch a rocket that the United Nations, Washington, Seoul and others call a cover meant to test technology for missiles that could be used to strike the United States. They have warned North Korea to cancel the launch or face more sanctions.

The North Koreans call the launch a peaceful bid to advance their space program and a last wish of late leader Kim Jong Il, who died on Dec. 17 last year. The rocket it launched in April broke apart seconds after liftoff.

On Monday, an unidentified spokesman for the North’s Korean Committee of Space Technology told state media that scientists found a “technical deficiency in the first-stage control engine module of the rocket.” The statement said technicians were moving ahead with final preparations for the liftoff from a west coast launch site.

The second day of North Korea’s extended 20-day launch window began this morning without signs of a liftoff. The specifics of the rocket’s technical problems aren’t clear, but state media put out an overnight dispatch detailing the unusually cold weather and heavy snow hitting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

The North had originally set up a 13-day launch window, starting Monday, but it announced early Sunday that it may delay the liftoff.