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Obama warns DPRK against missile launch

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-04 00:28

STRASBOURG, France -- US President Barack Obama on Friday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abort its missile launch plan, saying the launch will not go without penalty.

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force personnel stand around PAC-3, land-to-air missile, set up at a base amid the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's planned rocket launch in Akita, northern Japan, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. [Xinhua]

Related readings:  DPRK starts fuelling rocket: CNN  DPRK 'will shoot down spy planes'  US keeps pressing DPRK to release two Americans journalists  DPRK warns Japan on 'reckless interception'

The United States has made it clear to the DPRK that its missile launch is provocative and puts enormous strains on the six-party talks, Obama told reporters after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of a NATO summit.

The DPRK should stop the launch. But the response so far from the DPRK has been unhelpful and the language Pyongyang used led to its international isolation, he said.

"Should North Korea (DPRK) decide to take this action, we will work with all interested parties in the international community to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it can't threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity," said Obama.