Come on now, Kim! Unclench! Pretty please? North Korea says preparing rocket launch.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it was preparing to launch a satellite on one of its rockets, which analysts have said would actually be a test-launch of its longest-range missile.

The announcement, which unsettled financial markets in South Korea, follows weeks of angry rhetoric from Pyongyang aimed at the conservative government in Seoul and warnings that the Korean peninsula was on the brink of war.

Analysts said Pyongyang was using brinkmanship to put pressure on the new U.S. government and its main allies in the region, South Korea and Japan, to reverse tough policies against the North.