HONOLULU  Hawaii has long lived with the threat of wipeout, whether by tsunami, volcano or foreign invader.

Now the Obama administration says North Korea could launch a ballistic missile in the state’s direction  possibly around the Fourth of July, according to the Japanese news media  prompting the United States military to strengthen defenses here.

Antimissile interceptors are in place, the Defense Department said, and Hawaiians watched the other day as a giant, towering radar commonly known as the golf ball set out to sea from the base where it is normally moored.

But if lifelong residents like Gerald Aikau are on any state of alert, it would be the one telling him that his octopus, caught in the waters here with a spear and his bare hands, is overcooked.