Seoul  - North Korea informed an international shipping organization that it intends to launch a satellite at the beginning of April, South Korean media reported Thursday.

The International Maritime Organization was told that the carrier rocket of the Kwangmyongson-2 satellite would be fired between April 4 and 8, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing intelligence sources.

South Korea and the United States said North Korea has been preparing for weeks for a launch, but they said it plans to instead test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile that is potentially capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the western coast of the United States.

North Korea's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency said Pyongyang had informed the shipping safety group, the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international organizations of the upcoming launch, without mentioning a date for it. (dpa)