North Korea is readying a controversial rocket for launch as early as Saturday, officials said, pushing ahead with a plan widely seen as a disguised long-range missile test, Reuters reported. "I think it's almost certain North Korea will fire the missile," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told a small group of reporters in London where he had attended the G20 summit. North Korea has said it will send a satellite into space between Saturday and Wednesday, and insists it has the right to do so as a part of a peaceful space programme. South Korea and Japan say the launch is a disguised test of the long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is designed to carry a warhead capable of reaching U.S. territory but which blew apart about 40 seconds after launch during its only test flight in July 2006.
