South Korea urged North Korea on Wednesday to cancel its plan to launch a rocket, warning that Pyongyang will "pay a harsh price" if it goes ahead with the plan.

North Korea has informed the International Maritime Organization that it will launch a satellite between Feb. 8-25. 

Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of the presidential office of national security, called the North's notification a "challenge" to the international community, citing the U.N. Security Council's ongoing discussions to punish North Korea for its fourth nuclear test last month.

"North Korea should withdraw its plan for a launch by recognizing that any launch using ballistic missile technology violates the Security Council resolutions," Cho said.

"We sternly warn that North Korea will pay a harsh price" if it goes ahead with the rocket launch, he said.South Korea urged North Korea on Wednesday to cancel its plans to launch a rocket, warning that Pyongyang will "pay a harsh price" if it goes ahead with the plan.

North Korea informed the International Maritime Organization on Tuesday that it will launch a satellite between Feb. 8-25.

"North Korea should withdraw its plan for a launch," said Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of the presidential office of national security, noting that North Korea is banned from conducting ballistic missile tests under the U.N. resolutions.

"We sternly warn that North Korea will pay a harsh price" if it goes ahead with the rocket launch, he said, without elaborating on what he meant by a harsh price.

North Korea has long been under an array of U.S. and U.N. sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests.

He called the North's notification a "challenge" to the international community, citing the U.N. Security Council's ongoing discussions to punish North Korea for its fourth nuclear test last month.

The North's notification coincided with a surprise visit to Pyongyang by China's top nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei.

Wu is in Pyongyang to discuss the current situation, China's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday in a brief statement to Yonhap News Agency, without elaborating.

Wu is expected to try to dissuade North Korea from launching a long-range rocket while trying to bring the North back to the negotiating table on its nuclear weapons program.

The nuclear talks -- which involve the host China, both Koreas, the U.S., Japan and Russia -- were last held in 2008.

North Korea has repeatedly vowed to launch a series of satellites as part of its space development program.

In 2012, North Korea launched a satellite for what it claimed were peaceful purposes.

But South Korea, the United States and other regional powers suspect the North's satellite launch could be a cover for testing its ballistic missile technology, which is banned under U.N. resolutions.

Experts say there is a technological similarity between a rocket launch and a long-range missile test. They also say a rocket can carry either a satellite or a warhead, so the technology in launching a satellite could be diverted for military purposes.

In 2009, the North claimed it successfully put a satellite into orbit. However, South Korea and the U.S. said at the time that the launch was to test North Korea's ballistic missile technology and that no object entered orbit. (Yonhap)