"I am not aware of it. There are many false reports in Japan," Song Il-Ho, vice director of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, told reporters at Beijing airport, according to Kyodo News.

Song arrived in Beijing to hold talks with Japan about the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by Pyongyang agents.

On Thursday, South Korean military officials said data collected jointly with US satellites and spy planes suggested North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a missile capable of hitting most areas in Japan.

The detection of activity put Japan on alert, with a task force immediately set up at the prime minister's office to collect more information.

But Japan said Friday it believed North Korean moves to test-fire a missile were part of its routine military drills and posed no imminent threat.

At a meeting in New York Friday, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-Hon told Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi that Pyongyang's reported preparations for a missile launch test were just "conjecture, rumor and speculation," Kyodo News said Saturday.

Pyongyang stunned the world in August 1998 by test-launching over Japan a Taepodong-1 missile with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles), claiming it was a satellite launch.