Japan on alert for North Korea rocket launch
- 12 years ago
Trucks carrying rocket interceptors and control systems arrive at a port in Okinawa, as Japan puts its missile defences on alert.
Japan will deploy radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.
It also plans to position ground-based interceptors on some of its southern islands and in the Tokyo metropolitan area ahead of the North Korea missile launch on 12th-16th of April.
Japan says it will shoot down the rocket only if it appears to be falling towards Japanese territory.
Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta had approved the move.
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE DEFENCE MINISTER NAOKI TANAKA:
"We respect the U.S. diplomatic efforts over the issue, but we will maintain our foremost readiness in case the rocket is indeed launched. I think the U.S. Defence Secretary has agreed on our plan when I told him the details over the phone."
Pyongyang said in March that it would use its rocket to launch a weather satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim il-Sung, the country's founding ruler.
But the U.S., Japan and other countries say it is the same as a ballistic missile test and would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.
Japan will deploy radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.
It also plans to position ground-based interceptors on some of its southern islands and in the Tokyo metropolitan area ahead of the North Korea missile launch on 12th-16th of April.
Japan says it will shoot down the rocket only if it appears to be falling towards Japanese territory.
Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta had approved the move.
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE DEFENCE MINISTER NAOKI TANAKA:
"We respect the U.S. diplomatic efforts over the issue, but we will maintain our foremost readiness in case the rocket is indeed launched. I think the U.S. Defence Secretary has agreed on our plan when I told him the details over the phone."
Pyongyang said in March that it would use its rocket to launch a weather satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim il-Sung, the country's founding ruler.
But the U.S., Japan and other countries say it is the same as a ballistic missile test and would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.