- Japan put its ballistic missile defences on alert and warned that it would shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory.
- Nuclear-armed North Korea says it has completed its first military spy satellite and leader Kim Jong Un has approved final preparations for the launch.
- Analysts say the satellite is part of a surveillance technology programme, that includes drones, meant to improve its ability to strike targets in the event of war.
- North Korea has conducted a series of missile launches and weapons tests in recent months, including a new, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, “Any missile launch by North Korea is a serious violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning its nuclear and missile activity.
Japan put its ballistic missile defences on alert and warned that it would shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory after North Korea notified it of a satellite launch between May 31 and June 11.
Nuclear-armed North Korea says it has completed its first military spy satellite and leader Kim Jong Un has approved final preparations for the launch.
The order by the Japanese defence ministry, the first in response to a North Korean space launch since 2016, comes after Japan in April dispatched to the East China Sea a destroyer carrying Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors that can hit targets in space, and sent ground-based PAC-3 missiles, designed to strike warheads closer to the ground, to the Okinawan islands.
Japan expects North Korea to fire the rocket carrying its satellite over the southwest island chain as it did in 2016, a defence ministry spokesperson said.
North Korean state media has criticized plans by its rivals, South Korea, the United States and Japan, to share real-time data on its missile launches, describing the three as discussing “sinister measures” for tightening military cooperation. Analysts say the satellite is part of a surveillance technology programme, that includes drones, meant to improve its ability to strike targets in the event of war.
Kim in May inspected a military satellite facility, the news agency reported. North Korea has conducted a series of missile launches and weapons tests in recent months, including a new, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that any North Korean missile launch would be North Korea’s plan to put a satellite into orbit — the country’s first space rocket launch in more than seven years — has drawn flak.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, “Any missile launch by North Korea is a serious violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning its nuclear and missile activity. Even if it is called a ‘satellite,’ is a serious violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and a serious problem for the safety of people.”
Kishida further said that Japan had “strongly urged” North Korea to exercise restraint and refrain from carrying out the launch. He further said that Tokyo was cooperating with the US, South Korea and other countries on the issue.
A notice on the Japan Coast Guard website also warned of a launch over the same time period for a broad swath of ocean, including three areas where objects could be expected to fall — two in the Yellow Sea to the west of the Korean Peninsula and one spot east of the Philippines’ Luzon Island.
(With inputs from agencies)
