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img src=http://api.ning.com/files/ipZK2T2mQXWB1Gb7pKS7c9JfURdvyB6Bt2gTtWCXrejx3Hvh5* bSlrIvkh1g39EEGlZdYWE1hfVPWbxAGMq4PIKu*QyPsoKA/Koreamap_sat.jpg alt=/br/bSEOUL, South Korea (AP)/b -- bNorth Korea/b put its troops on balert/b and cut the last hot line to Seoul on Monday as the bAmerican/b and bSouth Korean/b militaries began joint maneuvers. The communist regime warned that even the slightest provocation could trigger war. br / The bNorth/b stressed that provocation would include any attempt to interfere with its impending launch of a satellite into orbit. U.S. and Japanese officials suspect the launch is a cover for a test of a blong-range attack missile/b and have suggested they might move to intercept the rocket.br / br / ib''Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,''/b/i North Korea's military threatened in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. Any interception attempt will draw ib''a just, retaliatory strike,''/b/i it said. Meaning it would battack the United States, Japan and South Korea./bbr / br / North Korea says it plans to send a satellite into orbit, but neighboring governments believe it will be testing its Taepodong-2 missile, which theoretically can reach as far as bHawaii/b and bAlaska/b.br / br / The North has been on a steady retreat from reconciliation since President ba href=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/lee_myung_bak/index.html?inline=nyt-per target=_blankLee Myung-bak/a/b took office in the South a year ago. After bLee/b said the North must continue dismantling its nuclear program if it wants aid, bPyongyang/b cut ties, suspended joint projects and stepped up its belligerence rhetoric.br / br / i''The danger of a military conflict is further increasing than ever before on the Korean Peninsula because of the saber rattling which involves armed forces huge enough to fight a war,''/i the North's news agency warned as bPyongyang/b put its armed forces on standby for combat.br / br / Allied commanders say the exercises are nothing more than the annual drills the two nations have held for years, while the North has been condemning them as ba rehearsal for invasion/b.br / br / Analysts say North Korea's heated words are designed to grab President bBarack Obama/b's attention. With South Korea cutting off aid, the impoverished North is angling for a diplomatic coup of establishing direct ties with the U.S., analysts say.br / br / For weeks, the North has said it is forging ahead with plans to send a communications satellite into space -- a launch that U.S. and Japanese officials say would bviolate a U.N. Security Council resolution/b banning the North from testing ballistic missiles. bThat decree came after the North test-fired a long-range missile and conducted an underground nuclear weapon test in 2006/b.br / br / Analysts say the launch could occur late this month or in early April.br / br / br / North and South Korea technically remain in a state of bwar/b since their b1950-53/b conflict ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are massed on each side of the DMZ.br / br / bThe United States/b, which has about b28,000 military personnel in South Korea/b, routinely holds joint military exercises with the South.br / br / Last week, the North threatened danger to bSouth Korean passenger planes/b flying near its airspace if the maneuvers went ahead, and several airlines rerouted their flights as a precaution.