AFP, Washington, June 1, 2009 – The United States on Monday warned North Korea not to fire a long-range missile, saying it would worsen tensions after the communist state’s nuclear test.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said that a launch would be a ’clear violation’ of a UN Security Council resolution approved after Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006.
’The North, frankly, just needs to end this provocative type of behavior. It’s only inflaming tensions in the region,’ Wood said.

’We want to see the North live up to its international obligations,’ Wood said.
A South Korean defense official said earlier Monday that there were signs North korea was preparing to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, in what would be its second such launch in as many months.