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North Korea Signals Satellite Launch, Japan Alerts Missile Defense. PHOTO/Reuters
TOKYO – Japan set up defense the ballistic missile on Monday (29/5/2023) and promised to shoot down any projectiles that threaten its territory. This step is taken after North Korea (North Korea) notified about the planned satellite launch between May 31 and June 11.
As reported by Reuters, North Korea claimed to have completed its first military spy satellite. And, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has approved the final preparations for the launch.
It would be the latest step by North Korea in a series of missile launches and weapons tests in recent months, including one of its new solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Tokyo expects North Korea to fire a rocket carrying its satellite into Japan’s southwestern island chain, as it did in 2016,” a spokesman for Japan’s Defense Ministry said, as quoted by Reuters.
Analysts say the new satellite is part of a surveillance technology program that includes drones aimed at enhancing the ability to strike targets in wartime.
“We will take destructive action against ballistic and other missiles that are confirmed to land on our territory,” Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“Japan will use the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) or Patriot Missile PAC-3 to destroy the North Korean missile,” the statement continued.
According to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, any North Korean missile launch would be a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions condemning Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile activities.
“We strongly urge North Korea to refrain from launching,” Kishida’s office said on Twitter. It added that they would cooperate with the United States, South Korea and other countries and do all they could to collect and analyze information from each launch.
South Korea joined Japan in calling on the North to drop the plan, which it described as “illegal”. “If North Korea continues to advance, it will pay the price and suffer,” a South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.
(esn)
