No U.S. Plans to Stop Korea on Missile Test

The United States has no plans for military action to pre-empt the launching of a long-range missile by North Korea and would act only if the missile or its parts appeared to be headed toward American territory, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Sunday.

South Korea also opposes military any military response to North Korea’s impending rocket launch, the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, said in an interview published Sunday.

The descriptions by Mr. Gates and Mr. Lee of a calibrated military response were the most definitive to date as the international community, led by the United States, Japan and South Korea, pursues diplomatic action to press North Korea not to proceed with the launching of a Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile.

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