North Korea Issues Threat Over Launch

SEOUL, South Korea (April 2) - World leaders sought a unified response Thursday to North Korea's latest provocation as the communist regime made final preparations for a controversial rocket launch and Japan braced for the possibility of falling debris.

With tensions already high, the North ratcheted up its militaristic rhetoric, threatening a "thunderbolt of fire" if Japan were to try to intercept the multistage rocket and warning U.S. ships — dispatched to monitor the launch — to back off or risk getting hit, too.
North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit sometime from Saturday to Wednesday. The U.S., South Korea and Japan think the reclusive country is using the launch to test long-range missile technology; they have warned the move would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution banning the North from ballistic activity.
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