(CNN) -- Missile and launch components have been moved to the east coast of North Korea in the "last few days," a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the information told CNN Thursday. The apparent deployment comes amid further threatening statements by North Korea and heightened tensions in the region -- a situation that "does not need to get hotter," a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said. The move of the missile and launch equipment could mean that Pyongyang, which unleashed another round of scathing rhetoric accusing the United States of pushing the region to the "brink of war," may be planning a missile launch soon.
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FIRST ON CNN: Communications intercepts suggest possibility of NK missile launch
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State Department: "This does not need to get hotter"
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A show of force during U.S.-South Korean exercises is part of pre-scripted actions
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The U.S. says it is transferring a missile defense system to Guam
"Cutting-edge weapons are not a monopoly of the @placeholder and gone are the days never to return when it could invade other countries with nukes as it pleased," the statement said.
"The U.S. and the @placeholder warmongers had better stop their rash actions, deeply aware of the gravity of the prevailing situation."