South Korean media reported on Tuesday that satellite images showed the rocket was being taken down.

“We have captured indications that a part of the rocket is being disassembled from the launch pad in Tongchang-ri,” Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean government source as saying.

The name refers to the North’s new test site in its western region close to the border with China.

“There is no change to the North’s will to fire the rocket,” another source was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

Officials at South Korea’s military and its foreign and defence ministries could not confirm the reports.

North Korea is assiduous in meeting its international obligations on reporting long-range rocket launches and notified international maritime and aviation bodies of its plans last week.

It was impossible to confirm the media reports in what is one of the most closed and secretive states on Earth.

TEHRAN SAYS NO IRANIAN ASSISTANCE

Meanwhile, Iran and North Korea are not cooperating on missile and nuclear development, Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said the same day.