North Korea fired a barrage of short-range missiles Thursday, a possible prelude to the launch of a long-range missile in the direction of Hawaii this weekend.
However, some U.S. defense department officials say there are no signs to indicate North Korea is ready to launch such an attack, and there appears to be no immediate threat to the islands.
News of a possible launch was released last month, prompting U.S. military officials to set-up defenses around Hawaii.
"If they fire a long range ICBM, aimed say toward Hawaii, the west coast or Alaska, then we should make every effort to shoot it down and we should not tolerate anything like that," said Senator, Dan Inouye.
North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles under resolutions by the United Nations.
