North Korea's neighbours on RED ALERT amid fears rogue state preparing to fire huge rocket

NORTH Korea's closest neighbours are on red alert after satellite images showed the communist state was preparing to test fire a long-range missile.

The North Korean dictator said his country is ready to detonate a H-bomb at 'any time'

New satellite images appear to show movement of components and propellant at the North's Sohae satellite launch facility, close to its border with China.

Renewed activity at the Sohae Rocket Launch Facility has prompted South Korea to install a US anti-missile defence system.

The South said the sophisticated Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system was needed in the face of increased threats from an advanced North Korean missile programme.

South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said: "If THAAD is deployed by the US military in Korea, it will be helpful for our security and defence."

Japan's military is also on high alert amid fears regional tensions could spiral out of control.

Japan's defence minister Gen Nakatani is believed to have ordered Aegis destroyers that operate in the Sea of Japan to be ready to target any North Korean projectiles.

The advanced Aegis vessels are able to track multiple targets and are armed with SM-3 missiles designed to destroy incoming warheads in space before they re-enter the atmosphere and hit their targets.

Japan also has Patriot PAC-3 missile batteries around Tokyo and other sites to provide a last line of defence.

But rather than a direct attack Japan is more concerned that debris from a missile test could fall on its territory.

A series of "snapshots" taken from December 28 to January 25 showed "low-level activities" throughout the rocket test site, analysis by a US-based monitoring project revealed.

US officials who studied the photos said they were now concerned that Pyongyang could exploit technology used to fire a rocket into orbit, which could lead to the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

ICBMs would give North Korea the capability to launch a strike against rival South Korea, Japan and possibly targets as far away as the US West Coast.

Kim Jong-un's secretive military claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb earlier this month - the country's fourth nuclear exercise.

N.Korea refuses to let independent experts in, making their nuclear claims hard to verify

A missile test coming so soon could raise concerns that North Korea is planning to fit nuclear warheads on its missiles.

Experts have so far insisted that threats of a nuclear strike by Pyongyang are bluff as the controversial state does not possess the technology to fire and detonate a nuclear warhead, having so far only tested the stationary devices in bunkers.

Patriot missile system in South Korea

38 North, who monitor Kim Jong-un's nuclear programme, said the movements indicate "the early stages of preparation for launching a space launch vehicle".

The group reported: "Activity at Sohae also suggests a possible rocket engine test is under preparation at the vertical engine test stand.

"While this may simply be testing the ability of the shelter to move it on the rails, a more likely alternative is that an engine test is being prepared."

The North Korean missile test on TV

The most recent image, captured on January 25, showed three objects at the base of the gantry tower as well as workers visible on the launch pad tarmac.

Roads inside the base had been cleared of snow and vehicles were spotted parked outside the VIP housing block.

Stephen Wood, chief executive officer of intelligence firm AllSource, said: "This is the first time leading up to a potential launch that all the concealment shelters are in place."