An unnamed source at the General Staff said special attention would be paid to the far east of the country and Russia's eastern islands during next month's satellite launch by neighbouring North Korea.

"Given the likelihood that the trajectory of the flight of the North Korean missile could pass close to or over Russian territory, heightened attention will be paid to this area with the aid of rocket attack warning and space monitoring systems," said the source.

"One cannot rule out the possibility that in case of an accident, rocket fragments could fall on Russian islands.

"Our task is to track with the appropriate technology the trajectory of the North Korean rocket's flight," the source added.

On Thursday the International Maritime Organisation said it had been notified by North Korea of the planned launch, expected in early April.

The announcement prompted calls by Washington and Seoul for Pyongyang to scrap what they see as a missile test in disguise.

Russia shares an 18-kilometre (11-mile) border with North Korea, and a vast stretch of Russian territory lies along what Moscow expects to be the North Korean rocket's flight path.

Senior Russian deputy Mikhail Margelov called for "absolute transparency" by Pyongyang and noted the "chaotic" flight path of previous North Korean rocket launches.

"Any military-space activity by Pyongyang prompts concern on the part of the international community, including Russia," said Margelov, a deputy with the ruling United Russia party and head of the upper house of parliament's foreign affairs committee.

"We would like absolute transparency in the actions of North Korea in this area," he added, quoted by Interfax news agency.

"Any military activity can complicate the whole discussion of security on the Korean peninsula.

"In Russia we well remember the test launch by Pyongyang some years ago of several Korean Taepodong launch vehicles that flew rather chaotically and erratically, including in the direction of Russian territory," he said.

Earlier this week Russia voiced concern over escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and called for all parties to avoid "aggressive rhetoric."

earlier related report
Japan says would protest NKorean launch at UN
Japan said Friday it would protest at the UN Security Council if North Korea launched a rocket and again warned it would shoot down any object headed for its territory.

Pyongyang has said it will launch a communication satellite between April 4 and 8. The United States and its Asian allies suspect North Korea wants to test a missile and say any rocket launch would violate a UN resolution.

Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that "even if it is a satellite or whatever, the launch would be a clear violation of UN Security Council resolution 1718" that was passed after North Korea's 2006 nuclear test.

"We will lodge protests through the United Nations and will continue to urge (North Korea) to abort the project," he told reporters.

Foreign Minster Hirofumi Nakasone said of the planned launch: "If it in fact happens, I believe we shall take up the issue at the Security Council."

Pyongyang on Thursday told the International Maritime Organisation and other world bodies of its plans for the launch.

It has given locations of possible danger areas which indicate that the rocket's first stage will drop into the sea between Japan and the Korean peninsula and the second stage will plunge into the Pacific.

The coordinates indicate the first stage will fall 650 km (406 miles) east of the Musudan-ri launch site and the second will fall 3,600 km (2,250 miles) east of the site, a Seoul foreign ministry official said.

A third stage may be used to thrust a satellite into orbit, experts said.

News of the planned launch has reminded Japan of the 1998 test launch of a North Korean long-range Taepodong-1 missile which flew over Japan and into the Pacific. A Taepodong-2 was test-launched in 2006 but failed.

Japan -- which has been developing a missile defence system with the United States -- has said it is ready to shoot down an incoming missile if it is headed for Japanese territory.

Pyongyang has said it would regard a missile interception as an act of war.

Japan's Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada again stressed on Friday: "We have been and will be ready for anything that flies toward us. We are preparing to respond to every situation."

Takeo Kawamura, the chief cabinet secretary, said that "legally, we can only intercept a missile if it falls toward Japan" and added that he does not interpret Japanese law as allowing a pre-emptive interception.

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