 U.S. warns against North Korean satellite launch. The U.S. government has urged North Korea to cancel the launch of its first military satellite, suggesting that North Korea could use the project to advance its ballistic missile program while claiming that any test launch would violate United Nations resolutions. Under past measures imposed by the UN, North Korea is barred from missile tests. A State Department spokesperson told Yonhap News adding that space launch vehicles incorporate technologies identical to and interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles. Any North Korean launch that uses ballistic missile technology which would include space launch vehicles violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions. The official added, Pyongyang first announced the completion of a new surveillance satellite earlier this week, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un saying that a launch was a top priority of the military and could occur by the end of the month. Possession of such a satellite is a primary task to be indispensable fulfilled to bolster up the armed forces of North Korea and belongs to its sovereignty and legitimate right to self-defense, Kim said, as cited by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. The spy satellite was unveiled soon after the North, tested another new weapon, a solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed Waseong-18, which officials said would help the North Korea's nuclear counter-attack capabilities. While Washington has repeatedly urged Pyongyang to cease its weapons tests, North Korea has conducted a record number of missile launches in recent months.