SEOUL: The US military is prepared for the possibility that North Korea may launch several missiles to coincide with its scheduled rocket launch next month, said the commander of United States forces in South Korea.

General Walter Sharp's comments came as Pyongyang announced that its newly elected Parliament would convene on April 9, just after the country's planned satellite launch that has sharply raised regional tensions.

Gen Sharp told a Senate hearing on Thursday that when North Korea last tried to test a long-range missile in 2006, at 'about the same time they also launched six other missiles'.

'And we are watching very closely to see what else they will do between April 4 and April 8, and we're prepared for that,' he said.

Pyongyang has said it will launch what it calls a communications satellite some time between those dates.

Seoul and Washington say the launch is a pretext to test its longest-range missile, which could theoretically hit Alaska.

Gen Sharp and the commander for the Pacific region, Admiral Timothy Keating, said they were confident that any missile threatening US targets could be shot down with anti-missile weaponry.

They said they had enough weapons, including Patriot missiles, to defend against the potential North Korean missile threat - and they could use more.

Gen Sharp said Pyongyang had more than 800 missiles and the US had 64 Patriot missiles on the Korean peninsula, while South Korea had just purchased 24 more Patriots.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency yesterday said the Parliament would convene a day after the period set aside for the rocket launch. It is set to re-elect leader Kim Jong Il, 67, as chairman of the National Defence Commission, the country's most powerful body. -- AFP, AP