NEWSLINE AT NOON N. Korea could test long-range missile in October: envoy

ARIRANG NEWS 12:00 Coming up today,... a senior North Korean diplomat indicates the regime is preparing to launch a long-range rocket in October and says Pyongyang has no intention of negotiating over its nuclear weapons program. The head of Korea′s ruling party presses high-profile U.S. politicians on the need for Japan to make a sincere apology for its wartime sexual enslavement of women this year, the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Plus,... it turns out the MERS outbreak did not have a major impact on consumer spending in Korea... with credit and debit card spending actually rising during the height of the outbreak. Stay tuned for these stories and more. Hello... it′s noon on Wednesday the twenty-ninth of July... you are tuned in to our midday newscast here on Arirang TV. Thanks for joining us,... I′m Mark Broome. Title: N. Korea could test long-range missile in October: envoy We start this afternoon with the clearest indication yet that North Korea plans to launch a major provocation in the coming months... A North Korean diplomat says Pyongyang will mark a special anniversary in October as it sees fit.... and that includes a possible long-range missile launch. The regime has also bolted the door to dialogue on its nuclear weapons program. Sohn Jung-in reports. Speaking to reporters at a rare press conference in New York on Tuesday, North Korea′s Ambassador to the UN Jang Il-hun clearly stated that his country will hold a large-scale celebration in October to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers′ Party. "... We are free to do whatever we want. We are not bound by any treaty or any obligations of any sort." The envoy refused to rule out the possibility of the North test-firing a long-range missile. Referring to the country as a nuclear weapons state, the ambassador added the North will never give up its nuclear weapons since they are an essential means to defend its sovereignty. He also reiterated that North Korea is not interested in holding any discussions on the unilateral freeze or abandonment of its nuclear weapons, which he said were necessary to protect the country against the U.S. ".... the mission of our nuclear forces will never change as a long as the hostile policy of the United States remains intact." The statement comes a week after South Korea reported that North Korea had completed an upgrade of its rocket launch pad. Experts say it will be able to fire a long-range missile twice the size of the 30-meter-long Unha-3 rocket launched in 2012. The U.S.-based North Korea monitoring website 38 North supports that assessment, citing recent satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station near where the Unha-3 was launched. It added that there are still no signs of preparations to launch a long-range rocket or missile from the facility. Sohn Jung-in, Arirang News. Title: Ruling party leader calls on U.S. officials to urge Japan against distorting