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TOKYO, JAPAN - FEB. 3: North Korea has notified the International Maritime Organization of its plan to launch an earth observation satellite between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25, the London-based U.N. agency said Tuesday, a move widely believed to be a de facto test-firing of a long-range ballistic missile. North Korea also gave notification of the launch of an earth observation satellite with a four-year operational life to the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union, an ITU source told Kyodo News. The daily launch window for the satellite is set between 7 a.m. and noon Pyongyang time, according to North Korea's notification to the IMO. The planned launch may be timed to coincide with the Feb. 16 birthday of Kim Jong Il, former leader and father of current leader Kim Jong Un. According to the notification, Pyongyang expects the first stage of the rocket to fall into the Yellow Sea off the western coast of South Korea, with a payload protective cover dropping in waters west of South Korea's southern island of Jeju. The rocket is projected to fly near Sakishima Islands in southern Japan as it travels further south before its second stage drops in Pacific waters northeast of the Philippines. The Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, said in a press conference held in the morning of February 3 that Japan, in cooperation with the nations including the United States and South Korea, will strongly demand North Korea will restrain itself from launching the "rocket." Japan believes the so-called satellite rocket is really a ballistic missile. The Japanese government on January 28 ordered Self-Defense Forces to intercept and destroy any flying object over its territories from North Korea. Aegis destroyers equipped with ship-based SM3 intercept missiles were deployed and Tokyo was set to convene a National Security Council meeting at noon on January 3.