Obama: U.S. 'fully prepared' on Korea

WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama says the United States is "prepared for any contingencies" if North Korea should conduct a long-range missile test in the Pacific Ocean.

Military and diplomatic analysts have said in recent days Pyongyang plans to launch a rocket toward Hawaii, possibly around the time of the July Fourth holiday. In an interview set to air Monday on "The Early Show" on CBS, Obama said Washington is prepared and the international community is united in opposition to what the president called North Korea's violation of international law.

Obama said his administration and the U.S. military are "fully prepared for any contingencies."

Asked whether that suggested a possible military response to North Korea, Obama said: "No. It's just we are prepared for any contingencies. I don't want to speculate on hypotheticals. But I do want to give assurances to the American people that the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted in terms of what might happen."

The president noted that Russia, China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and the U.N. Security Council have concluded North Korea has violated international law.

"Well, (what) that sends a signal, though, is of a unity in the international community that we haven't seen in quite some time," he said. "And one of the things that we have been very clear about is that North Korea has a path towards rejoining the international community.

"What we're not going to do is to reward belligerence and provocation in the way that's been done in the past."