Washington

Seoul  - North Korea on Saturday let a self-set window for a planned rocket launch pass by.

The communist state, which announced plans to launch a communications satellite between Saturday and Wednesday let a previously set launch window between 11 am and 4 pm (0200 to 0700 GMT) pass amid speculation that strong winds prevented the launch.

Washington/Tokyo, Apr. 4: Despite a clear warning from US President Barack Obama not to go ahead with the launch of its advanced Taepodong-2 missile, North Korea has vowed to carry it out between Saturday and Wednesday.

There are signs that the launch would come soon rather than later.

A launch could occur "any minute," two sources told FOX News, and likely not as late as Sunday.

Tokyo - North Korea has not gone ahead with a planned rocket launch yet, the Japanese government said Saturday, correcting earlier reports of a launch.

Initial information about a launch had proved erroneous, Japan's NHK television said, quoting government sources.

Japan retracted the warning about five minutes after it initially sent out the news at 12:30 (0330 GMT).

North Korea has completed preparations for what it calls a communications satellite to be launched "soon," Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.

Tokyo  - North Korea has completed preparations for what it calls a communications satellite to be launched "soon," Japanese media reported Saturday, citing Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean official as saying the launch was expected within hours.

Washington - The United States is making last-minute efforts to convince North Korea to stop a missile or satellite launch that could come as early as Saturday, according to the US envoy to the region, and he warned the North Koreans should expect consequences if the launch goes ahead as planned.

Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, the State Department's special representative for North Korea, said the United States was pressing its case against the Stalinist regime through a variety of diplomatic avenues.