The commander of U.S. forces in Asia and the Pacific said that the U.S. military is prepared to shoot down any North Korean ballistic missile if President Barack Obama should give the order.

"If a missile leaves the launch pad we`ll be prepared to respond upon direction of the president," Adm. Timothy Keating said in an interview with ABC News. "I`m not a betting man but I`d go like 60/40, 70/30 that it will, they will attempt to launch a satellite. There`s equipment moving up there that would indicate the preliminary stages of preparation for a launch. So I`d say it`s more than less likely."

North Korea this week vowed to go ahead with what is feared would amount to a test launch of a missile that could eventually carry a nuclear warhead.

North Korea has said it is making brisk preparations to launch what it calls an experimental communications satellite despite growing appeals around the world to call off its plans.

"Should it look like it`s not a satellite launch - that it`s something other than a satellite launch - we`ll be ready to respond," he said.

Keating, who commands forces that include 28,000 troops in South Korea and 50,000 in Japan, said that the military is ready to respond with at least five different systems: destroyer, Aegis cruiser, radar, space-based system and ground-based interceptor. All of these work in conjunction with one another to protect against any missile threat.

Seoul officials believe the North is preparing to test-launch a Taepodong-2 missile.

Stephen Bosworth, the new special envoy for North Korea, will try to deter Pyongyang from test-firing when he visits Asia next week amid efforts to end the stalemated talks for its nuclear disarmament, an official said Thursday.

Bosworth is due to travel to Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow to consult with Washington`s partners in the six-party disarmament negotiations.

Diplomats from the five capitals late last year hit a deadlock in the negotiations when their counterparts from Pyongyang balked at their demands for verifying disarmament.

Under a landmark deal in 2007, North Korea agreed to scrap its nuclear weapons in exchange for energy aid.

Bosworth "will work closely with our allies and partners to convince North Korea to become a constructive part of the international community," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on announcing his trip to the region next week.

"The North Koreans talk about it being a satellite launch," said Christopher Hill, the former chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea who remains in charge of East Asian affairs in a separate press conference.

"You can see that it looks an awful lot like a missile launch," Hill said in a separate press conference here.

He said that Clinton spoke by telephone with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan on "what the best way would be to deter this launch."

"We`re trying to figure out a way forward and part of Ambassador Bosworth`s trip will be to continue that process," Hill added.

Clinton said that Bosworth, whom she announced last week as the pointman on North Korea policy, will help "to realize our goal of the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner."

Bosworth said he did not rule out meeting North Korean officials on the trip, but added that the decision depends on U.S. consultations with its partners and on "what we hear back from the North Koreans."

During a Feb. 20 stop in Seoul as part of her maiden diplomatic tour, Clinton named Bosworth, a former diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to South Korea, to a new post of special representative for North Korea.

Clinton said Bosworth would be the senior official handling North Korean issues, reporting to her and President Barack Obama.

The chief U.S. diplomat said senior State Department official Sung Kim, who was closely involved in negotiations along with Hill, would be the special envoy to the six-party talks on the North`s denuclearization.

Kim, who is due to travel with Bosworth, would continue to lead day-to-day efforts.

From news reports