N. Korea warns it will protect sovereignty

PYONGYANG, North Korea, March 11 (UPI) -- North Korea warned Wednesday it would take "every necessary measure" to defend itself and continued preparations for what is says is a satellite launch.

A statement issued by the North Korean Foreign Ministry said the country "will take every necessary measure to protect its sovereignty" as the United States and South Korea carry out joint military exercises, Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, reported.

It also said that any attempt to interfere with planned a rocket launch Pyongyang claims is part of its peaceful space development program -- but which others say is a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile -- will lead to war on the Korean peninsula.

The United States' national intelligence director, Dennis Blair, however, indicated it's likely the North Korean rocket launch actually is part of a space program rather than an ICBM test.

Speaking before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, Blair said, "I tend to believe that -- the North Koreans announced that they were going to do a space launch, and I believe that that's what they … intend. I could be wrong but that would be my estimate," Yonhap reported.