April 3 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said a launch by North Korea of a missile would be “provocative” and would endanger six-party talks aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.

“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 isolation in the international community for a very long time,” Obama said in Strasbourg, France, today alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

North Korea said last month it plans to launch a missile carrying a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and April 8 as part of a peaceful space project. The U.S. and South Korea say that would violate a UN resolution and that evidence suggests North Korea is instead planning to test a Taepodong-2 missile capable of reaching Alaska. Japan ordered any North Korean object entering its airspace to be shot down.

The U.S. has told the North Koreans that they “should stop the launch,” Obama said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Edwin Chen in Strasbourg at echen32@bloomberg.net; Hans Nichols in Strasbourg at hnichols2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 3, 2009 08:05 EDT