The information that Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched a rocket was not correct, Japanese government sources said Saturday.

The Japanese government retracted its informal statement that the DPRK had launched a rocket, citing a "technical error", Yonhap News Agecny reported.

Quoting unnamed government sources, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that an object had blasted off from the DPRK.

But the Japanese government said the information was incorrect, attributing the confusion to the erroneous operation of its rocket detection system, call "Em-Net."

The DPRK announced Saturday that it will "soon" launch communications satellite Kwangmyongsong-2, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"Preparations for launching 'Kwangmyongsong-2,' an experimental communications satellite, by carrier rocket 'Unha-2' have been completed at the satellite launching ground in the east coastal area of the DPRK," the KCNA reported.

The KCNA added that launch preparations have been "completed at the satellite launching ground in the east coastal area and that there would be no change in the technological indexes necessary for the safe navigation of airliners and ships" it had provided to the U.N..

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2009)