North Korea finalising launch set up

By David Brunnstrom and Sean Maguire

STRASBOURG/LONDON (Reuters) - North Korea is preparing a rocket to blast off as early as Saturday, officials said, readying what Pyongyang describes as a satellite launch but is widely regarded as a disguised long-range missile test.

U.S. President Barack Obama said the international community would take action if North Korea went ahead with the launch to show Pyongyang, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, it could not act with impunity.

"We will work with all interested partners in the international community to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that they cannot threaten the safety and stability of other countries with impunity," Obama told a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Strasbourg, France.

While Washington urged Pyongyang to reconsider its plan to fire off a rocket between Saturday and Wednesday, a U.S. envoy suggested it may be a foregone conclusion and said he hoped to bring the North back to talks on ending its nuclear programs.

AFTER THE DUST SETTLES

"We will be ... working very closely with our partners to ensure that after the dust of the missiles settles a bit, we get back to the longer-term priority of the ... six-party talks," Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, told reporters in Washington.

While saying the talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States were central to efforts to get North Korea to give up its nuclear programs, he said Washington was ready for direct contact with Pyongyang at any time.

North Korea believes it has the right to launch the rocket as a part of a peaceful space program, while the United States views it as a violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in 2006 after Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.