Pyongyang says rocket launch is 'imminent'

North Korea state media announced that preparations for the imminent launch of a controversial rocket have been completed. The launch is widely viewed as a disguised test of a long-range missile that violates U.N. resolutions.North Korea said Saturday it has finished its preparations for a satellite launch which would go ahead "soon" -- keeping the world guessing on the timing of what critics see as a disguised missile test.In a sign of frayed nerves, Japan's government at one point said the rocket launch was thought to have gone ahead, only later to retract its statement as incorrect.The nuclear-armed communist North says it is planning a peaceful satellite launch, and has defied demands from the United States and its regional allies to cancel the exercise.Its state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said preparations for launching the communications satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 "have been completed" at a site in the northeast."The satellite will be launched soon," it said, citing information from the Korean Committee of Space Technology.KCNA said the satellite would be carried by an Unha-2 (Galaxy-2) rocket -- known in the West as the Taepodong-2 which could theoretically reach Alaska or Hawaii at maximum range.Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have vowed to refer a launch to the UN Security Council as a breach of a resolution passed after the North's 2006 missile and nuclear tests.The North says that even a Council debate about its launch would lead to a breakdown of long-running six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.It has announcd the launch for April 4-8, and between the hours of 11:00am and 4:00pm (0200-0700 GMT).