U.S. Military to Monitor North Korean Rocket Launching WASHINGTON - The commander of American military forces in the Pacific region said Thursday that warships equipped with advanced radar and other ballistic-missile defense systems were being relocated to monitor a potential rocket launching by North Korea. The commander, Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, said the American military was watching for the expected North Korean operation "very closely," and he reiterated that the launching of any long-range missile would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions. North Korea announced Saturday that it would try to launch another long-range rocket before the end of the year. The launching, expected sometime between Monday and Dec. 22, would commemorate the death a year ago of North Korea's longtime ruler, Kim Jong-il, and would come as his son Kim Jong-un, the current leader, tries to build credibility. During a Pentagon news conference on Thursday, Admiral Locklear said the goal of moving the ships would be to track a missile launching to determine "what kind is it? What is it about? Where does it go? Who does it threaten? He acknowledged that the military's missile-defense efforts in the Pacific region were also intended to reassure allies worried about North Korea's missile capabilities, and had a role in homeland security for the United States. Although North Korea says its missile launchings are to loft satellites into orbit for peaceful purposes, American officials consider the missions a cover for testing technology for intercontinental ballistic missiles that could eventually be used to carry nuclear weapons. In North Korea's most recent launching, in April, the rocket disintegrated shortly after takeoff. The Navy's missile-defense ships carry interceptors that are capable of shooting down a long-range missile in the unlikely event that this was called for.