North Korea Ups Preparations for Apparent Missile Test

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea appeared to move closer Sunday to test-launching a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States, officials and news reports said, as the communist state vowed anew to bolster its military forces in a burst of fiery rhetoric. Japan warned it would file a "fierce" protest to the U.N. Security Council if a long-range missile was fired, in what would be the North's first such launch since August 1998. Since 1999, the North has abided by a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile tests. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199954,00.html