North Korea has not notified U.N. agencies of any rocket launch plan, agency officials said Monday, after South Korea and Japan reported signs of the North preparing to conduct an intermediate-range missile launch.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier in the day that it is keeping track of signs of North Korea preparing to launch a ballistic missile. Sources said the North is believed to have put an intermediate-range Musudan missile on a mobile launcher on the east coast.

If carried out, it would be the North's fourth Musudan missile test after three failures last month.

Japan's NHK also reported that the Japanese government has ordered its military to be ready to intercept any ballistic missile to be fired by the North if it enters its territory.

In London, the International Maritime Organization said it has not received any notification from North Korea with regard to ballistic missile launch. The Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union also said it has received no such notification from Pyongyang.

It is customary for countries to give advance notices to such U.N. agencies of rocket launch plans to warn planes and ships to stay away from the areas to be affected by launches. Pyongyang has done so in its previous rocket launches.

But Pyongyang did not give such notifications when it tested the Musudan missile three times last month. (Yonhap)