STRASBOURG France - The international community will take steps if North Korea goes ahead with a planned missile launch to show Pyongyang it cannot act with impunity, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday.

Should North Korea decide to take this action, we will work with all interested partners in the international community to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that they cannot threaten the safety and stability of other countries with impunity, he told a joint news conference after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

North Korea is preparing a rocket for launch as early as Saturday, officials say, pushing ahead with a plan widely seen as a disguised long-range missile test despite U.S. warnings it would be provocative and breach U.N. resolutions.

The response so far from the North Koreans has been not just unhelpful but has resorted to the sort of language that has led to North Korea's international isolation in the international community for a very long time, Obama said.

He gave no indication of what steps Washington and other nations would take in response.

Barack obama South Korea