North Korea rocket & US anxious

North Korea says that it will launch a satellite between April 12 and 16 but the United States, South Korea and other nations see it as a pretext for a long-range missile test, which is banned by the United Nations. The United States is closely following preparations by North Korea to launch a long-range rocket, which could come as early as next week, Pentagon officials said Thursday. Pyongyang sparked alarm in the region when it announced last month it would launch a rocket to place a satellite in orbit as part of mass celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary on April 15 of the birth of Kim Il-Sung. Japan has completed the deployment of a land-based system of interceptor missiles in preparation for a planned North Korean rocket launch later this month. The exercise was finalised in Okinawa on Thursday, days after a similar deployment was completed on Monday in Naha, the capital of the Okinawa prefecture.Japan, the US and other countries claim the North is seeking to test the capabilities of its long-range missiles, in violation of international agreements.