JAPAN: Japan rolls out a battery of Patriot missile launchers in central Tokyo ahead of North Korea's rocket launch expected later this month

Record ID: 466763

  • Title: JAPAN: Japan rolls out a battery of Patriot missile launchers in central Tokyo ahead of North Korea's rocket launch expected later this month
  • Date: 5th December 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (DECEMBER 5, 2012) (REUTERS) JAPANESE SELF DEFENCE FORCE (JSDF) TRUCK DRIVING INTO DEFENCE MINISTRY MORE OF TRUCK DRIVING INTO DEFENCE MINISTRY PATRIOT ADVANCED CAPABILITY 3 (PAC3) MISSILE LAUNCHER PREPARING TO TURN IN TO DEFENCE MINISTRY MORE OF PAC3 LAUNCHER PAC3 LAUNCHER DRIVING INTO MINISTRY CAMERA PEOPLE FILMING PAC3 LAUNCHER HEADING INTO DEFENCE MINISTRY MORE OF CAMERA PEOPLE DRIVING INTO DEFENCE MINISTRY PAC3 LAUNCHERS BEING DEPLOYED ON FIELD BEHIND DEFENCE MINISTRY PAC3 LAUNCHER BEING DEPLOYED VARIOUS OF PAC3 LAUNCHER BEING DEPLOYED ON FIELD BEHIND DEFENCE MINISTRY PAC3 LAUNCHER AND BARBED WIRE STREET IN CENTRAL TOKYO SIGN FOR VIDEO STORE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 24-YEAR-OLD OFFICE WORKER, SHO KITAMUKAI, SAYING: "I don't think Japan should equip itself with weapons, but North Korea's got us in its sights. So if they're here for our self-defence, well, it can't really be helped." (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 24-YEAR-OLD OFFICE WORKER, AYANO SHIMEGI, SAYING: "I'm a bit scared by all of this. But, you know, I'm not so afraid that I feel like I want to go curl up and hide at home." MORE OF STREETS IN CENTRAL TOKYO
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2QW89G9ZNJ4RGS37XNHA2LBME
  • Story Text: Patriot missiles rolled out in central Tokyo under the cover of darkness on Wednesday (December 5), as Japan ramps up its land-based defences ahead of a North Korean rocket launch expected in the coming weeks.
    Elsewhere the government deployed Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptors to islands in the country's southern Okinawa prefecture.
    North Korea is expected to launch the rocket in that direction some time between December 10-22, a flight path similar to a failed launch in April this year.
    While the rocket's projected path will not take it anywhere near Tokyo, two PAC-3 launchers were still deployed in central Tokyo and others at bases near to the capital.
    Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said the government would consider intercepting the rocket if it goes off course, the same stance the government took earlier in the year.
    On the streets, Tokyo residents were unfazed.

    "I don't think Japan should equip itself with weapons, but North Korea's got us in its sights. So if they're here for our self-defence, well, it can't really be helped," office worker Sho Kitamukai said.

    "I'm a bit scared by all of this. But, you know, I'm not so afraid that I feel like I want to go curl up and hide at home," 24-year-old Ayano Shimegi added.
    Japan's Noda said last month that Japan's security environment was tougher than ever, underscoring the threat of North Korea's weapons programmes and tension with China over a territorial dispute.
    North Korea says it is once again merely sending a satellite into space, but the United States claims it is a disguised ballistic missile test.
    In April, Japan deployed Aegis radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors to the sea between Japan and South Korea and others to the East China Sea.
    RV/KS/JRC
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register