N. Korea Calls Rocket Launch "Imminent"

North Korea said preparations to launch a communications satellite into space were complete Saturday morning, and liftoff was imminent.

Spy satellites trained high-resolution cameras on a coastal launch pad for the possible launch, which North Korea had earlier advised international authorities would take place sometime between Saturday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time - that's between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. EDT.

"Preparations for launching 'Kwangmyongsong-2,' an experimental communications satellite, by carrier rocket 'Unha-2' have been completed at the satellite launching ground in the east coastal area," the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported, citing information from the Korean Committee of Space Technology. "The satellite will be launched soon."

Conditions were cloudy over the launch area Saturday - not perfect, but without the strong winds that could force a delay.

U.S., Japan and South Korea deployed warships with radar and other surveillance equipment in the waters near the communist nation to monitor the launch.

Efforts to persuade North Korea to give up the plan continued, though there were no signs of a last-minute diplomatic breakthrough.

U.N. Security Council diplomats, anticipating a weekend emergency session if the launch proceeds, said a draft resolution had begun circulating that could essentially reaffirm and tighten enforcement of the demands and sanctions of a resolution passed in October 2006 after a North Korean nuclear test. It banned North Korea from ballistic missile activity.

Two U.S. destroyers are believed to have departed from South Korea to monitor the launch. South Korea is using its destroyer equipped with Aegis ballistic missile defense technology, said a Seoul military official who asked not to be identified, citing department policy.

North Korea has complained that the U.S. is using high-altitude U-2 spy planes and has warned the aircraft would be shot down if they intrude into its airspace.

Japan has deployed warships and Patriot missile interceptors off its northern coast to shoot down any wayward rocket parts that the North has said might fall over the area. Tokyo has said it is only protecting its territory and has no intention of trying to shoot down the rocket itself, but North Korea accused Japan of inciting militarism at home to justify developing a nuclear weapons program of its own.

The Obama administration's top envoy on North Korea said Friday that the country will face consequences should proceed with the rocket launch.

Stephen Bosworth urged North Korea to reconsider what the U.S. and others believe will be a cover for a long-range missile test.

President Barack Obama called the planned launch provocative. And he said at a news conference Friday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the threat of it has put "enormous strains" on international talks over North Korea's disputed nuclear ambitions.

Mr. Obama says the United States has made those points clear to North Korea. But he says that country's response has been unhelpful and the country is using language that led to its isolation. Mr. Obama says North Korea cannot threaten the "safety and security of other countries with impunity."

North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit. The U.S., South Korea and Japan think North Korea is using the launch to test long-range missile technology - a move they have warned would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution banning the North from ballistic activity.

Even China, the North's closest ally, said it was working to avert the launch, while urging restraint from all parties to avoid aggravating an already-tense situation. Chinese President Hu Jintao specifically called for calm from Japan.

After the North has said the rocket's route would take it over Japanese territory and that some debris could fall off its northern coast, Tokyo set in motion a flurry of preparations.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso told reporters in London on Thursday that a Saturday launch was likely, and a senior U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press that Pyongyang was on track for liftoff then, with pre-launch movements similar to the steps taken in advance of its 2006 firing of a Taepodong-2 missile. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence issues.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the rocket is carrying what the North Koreans call a communications satellite, which probably looks a lot like the one former weapons inspector David Albright once saw in the country.

"It's called Lodestar and it's really just something that goes beep beep beep," Albright told Martin. "It's not a sophisticated satellite by any means."

So why are some of the world's most powerful nations, including the U.S., warning there will be a stern response?

"The trouble is that that same missile can be reconfigured into an intercontinental ballistic missile," Albright said.

That missile could someday fire a nuclear warhead at the westernmost parts of the U.S., but Albright says there's a more immediate concern.

If the launch does proceed, Japan and other nations plan to request an emergency session of the Security Council as soon as this weekend to discuss possible punishment.

North Korea has condemned in advance any efforts to censure it, claiming it has the right to the peaceful use of space, although military experts say the same technology could be used to launch ballistic missiles capable of reaching U.S. territory. Pyongyang is believed to have several nuclear warheads; it is unclear if it has been able to miniaturize them enough to mount on a missile.

It also has ratcheted up its militaristic rhetoric, threatening a "thunderbolt of fire" if Japan were to try to intercept the rocket and warning U.S. ships - dispatched to monitor the launch - to back off or risk getting hit, too.

John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and ex-undersecretary of state in charge of the North Korean nuclear dossier, called the launch "essentially an act of defiance against the Security Council."

"A wrist slap by the Security Council won't mean anything and, in fact, I think the North Koreans will take that as a sign of weakness," he said. "It'll say they got away with the test."

North Korea has warned against any efforts to censure it, claiming it has the right to the peaceful use of outer space. It also has threatened retaliation against any efforts to intercept the rocket, telling Japan such a move would mean "war."

South Korea has set up task forces, including at the Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff, to monitor and swiftly respond to a launch. The Foreign Ministry met Saturday morning to draw up post-launch measures.