When a satellite is sent into space on the back of a long-range missile, is it a satellite launch or a missile launch? This question is being raised at a time when North Korea is preparing “to launch a working satellite, Kwangmyongsong-3, manufactured by itself with indigenous technology to mark the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il-sung,” as it announced on Friday.

But it is not an either/or question. It is a missile launch and a satellite launch put together. Nonetheless, North Korea was seen to make a futile attempt to disguise it as nothing but a satellite launch when it said it would launch a satellite between April 12-16.

North Korea insisted that the satellite is designed “for space development and peaceful use.” In other words, it was denying that it was testing a long-range missile for military purposes as well. By doing so, it apparently wanted to ensure that it would receive U.S. food aid as previously agreed.

Of course, Pyongyang made no mention of a missile launch in its announcement. But the United States was not fooled. Washington said it considered that “a satellite launch of this kind would be an abrogation of that agreement” ― an agreement concluded two weeks ago that Washington would provide the impoverished country with 240,000 tons of food on condition that it suspend uranium enrichment and long-range missile tests.

North Korea has long been preparing for the centenary of Kim Il-sung’s birth as an occasion to demonstrate itself as a “strong and prosperous” country. It wants to show off its military might by launching a satellite on the back of a missile and feed its hungry residents better, albeit with food aid from abroad, at the same time.

A similar satellite/missile controversy developed first when North Korea conducted a long-range missile test in 2009. Though the test was confirmed to have failed, it claimed the satellite was successfully placed into orbit and played revolutionary communist songs. Officials in South Korea and the United State found no such indication.

The satellite/missile launch, planned on Kim Il-sung’s birthday, would not only pose a threat to security in Northeast Asia but violate U.N. Security Council resolutions, as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned. As such, the international community will have to put diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang to change course. Here, China has a crucial role to play as North Korea’s sole military ally.