North Korea missile launch will not be a surprise: US

The White House has said it is closely monitoring the situation in the Korean peninsula

A missile launch by North Korea would not be a surprise, the White House said adding it is closely monitoring the situation in the Korean peninsula.

"We are monitoring this situation very closely and carefully. We have said for some time that we would not be surprised if there was a missile launch, because it is in keeping with a pattern of behaviour that we have seen before," the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, told reporters at his daily news conference yesterday.

"Unfortunately, that pattern of behaviour is one that flies in the face of North Korea's commitments to the United Nations, its commitment to denuclearisation, its commitment not to pursue the kind of missile development that it has pursued," he said.

The US is working with its partners and allies to isolate and pressure North Korea to get it to cease and desist this kind of provocative behaviour, to dial back the provocative and unhelpful rhetoric, and instead to choose the path that is best for the North Korean people, he said.

"That is one that recognises the need to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula and for North Korea to verifiably abide by its commitments," he said.

Responding to questions about US response to the North Korean rhetoric, Carney said the United States remains in a state of constant monitoring and vigilance with regards to all the developments that have been seen in recent weeks.