Though North Korea announced plans for a new satellite launch just hours after China's top delegate to the Six-Party Talks visited Pyongyang on Tuesday, experts said the envoy's presence would not prevent the launch happening.

China’s senior representative to the Six-Party Talks and representative for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei arrived on Tuesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, with some suggesting his presence could have had the aim of preventing further actions to destabilize the region.