North Korea is preparing to launch an intermediate-range ballistic missile in the next three days.
This photo released by the North Korea's official news agency late last month shows a missile fired during a drill. Photo: AFP / Korean Central News Agency via KNS
Fox News reported the communist nation planned the launch in 24 to 72 hours.
It would be the latest in a series of launches this year by the isolated country in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, supported by China, that ban all ballistic missile-related activities.
North Korea, which is under UN and other international sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes, has conducted repeated missile tests this year - the most recent, a failed test on 20 October.
A new study by a US-based North Korea research project says North Korean missile and nuclear tests and other major "provocations" had increasingly clustered close to US elections.