After threatening satellite launch, Japan wants to destroy any N.Korean missile. North Korea informed Japan of a satellite launch between May 31 and June 11; Japan’s defense ministry stated it would destroy any North Korean missile that violated its territory.
Nuclear-armed North Korea says it has finished its first military spy satellite, and leader Kim Jong Un has authorized its launch.
Analysts say a military satellite would boost North Korea’s monitoring and wartime targeting.
“We will take destructive measures against ballistic and other missiles that are confirmed to land in our territory,” Japan’s defense ministry stated.
The ministry claimed it would kill a North Korean missile using an SM-3 or PAC-3.
North Korea has also tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile in recent months.
A coast guard official told Reuters that North Korea informed the Japanese coast guard of the launch between May 31 and June 11, corroborating NHK and other media reports.
Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s senior cabinet secretary, said North Korea’s satellite launches threatened Japanese residents’ safety.
“The government recognizes that the satellite may pass through our country,” he told a press conference.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned reporters that any North Koran missile launch would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution.
“We strongly urge North Korea to refrain from launching,” the prime minister’s office tweeted earlier, adding it will cooperate “with relevant countries such as the U.S. and South Korea.”
U.S. partner Japan stated it would gather and analyze launch data. KCNA said that Kim Jong Un examined a military satellite station in May.
North Korean media called efforts by South Korea, the US, and Japan to share real-time missile launch data “sinister measures” to strengthen military cooperation.
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