The placing of the first-stage of North Korea's Unha-3 ballistic missile on the launch pad in that country prompted separate meetings of Ambassadors from Russia, China, Japan, and the United States with South Korean Foreign Ministry officials on Monday.

The announced launch by North Korea is said by that country to be a peaceful attempt to place a satellite into orbit, but the test is characterized by the United States as a missile test on a weapons vehicle designed to reach the United States and says that the launch would be a “highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region.” The launch is scheduled for later this month.

North Korea says that the country’s Committee fro Space Technology had analyzed and fixed the problems that caused the failure in April’s launch and had improved the precision and reliability of the Unha-3 rocket and the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite.

China, North Korea’s supporter in the region said that “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is entitled to peaceful use of outer space but is also subject to relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.” The Foriegn Ministry of China said that Beijing has expressed concern over the launch.

Russia has urged the North Korean government not to go through with the launch. Russia is also concerrned about the true intentions of the launch.

Planned talks this week by North Korea and Japan have been postponed in light of this newest development by North Korea. The scheduled talks were to discuss the fate of Japanese citizens that have been abducted by North Korea over the years. Japan intends to move Patriot anti-missiles to the Ryukyu Islands in preparation for the planned launch by North Korea. The Patriot missile system will be used if the missile strays off-course towards Japan. Japanese warships are also being deployed to the area, and ground, air and marine forces are also preparing to deploy.

North Korea has announced a launch window of December 10 to December 22nd. The launch is expected to occur on December 17th, which is the first anniversary of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s death.