JAPAN/FILE: Japan's government prepares defence forces to intercept North Korean rocket if it poses threat to its territory

Record ID: 466759

  • Title: JAPAN/FILE: Japan's government prepares defence forces to intercept North Korean rocket if it poses threat to its territory
  • Date: 2nd December 2012
  • Summary: ISHIGAKI ISLAND, OKINAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (FILE - APRIL 11, 2012) (REUTERS) PATRIOT ADVANCED CAPABILITY(PAC) 3 MISSILES DEPLOYED ON ISLAND VARIOUS OF PAC3 MISSILES DEPLOYED TO POSSIBLY SHOOT DOWN NORTH KOREAN ROCKET TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - APRIL 7, 2012) (REUTERS) PAC3 MISSILE LAUNCHERS JAPANESE SELF DEFENCE FORCE SOLIDER STRINGING OUT BARBED WIRE MORE OF PAC3 LAUNCHER
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABHB7U07EP3TYV31RSBK3SVWSI
  • Story Text: Japan's government said late Saturday (December 1) that it would consider shooting down the North Korea rocket if it threatened to fall onto Japanese territory.
    North Korea's state news agency announced the decision to launch another space satellite on Saturday, just a day after Kim met a senior delegation from China's Communist Party in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
    Japan's Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda along with Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and related cabinet ministers held a late night meeting to discuss North Korea's announcement to launch the rocket.
    Noda said if the isolated state went ahead with the launch it would be a regrettable decision.

    "If they do indeed go ahead with the launch, then it is indeed very regrettable. Not only our country but the entire international community must take strong measures to deal with this," Noda said.
    With the announced flight path heading south, similar to the earlier failed launch in April of this year, Noda announced that the Japanese government would look into possibly intercepting the rocket if it goes off course, the same stance the government took earlier in the year.

    "So that the Defense Ministry and the Self Defense Forces can take the appropriate measures, the Defense minister has today issued orders to prepare for the interception and defense against ballistic missiles and subsequently take the necessary steps," Noda said.
    In April Japan deployed Aegis radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 ground-based interceptors on some of Japan's southern islands and in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
    The orders mean that interceptor missiles would be fired only if the North Korean rocket or parts of it appear to be falling towards Japanese territory, threatening its people or their property.
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