JAPAN/SOUTH KOREA: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda visits missile defence preparations in Tokyo, as Japan and South Korea get ready for a North Korean rocket launch

Record ID: 466768

  • Title: JAPAN/SOUTH KOREA: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda visits missile defence preparations in Tokyo, as Japan and South Korea get ready for a North Korean rocket launch
  • Date: 7th December 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (DECEMBER 7, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF JAPANESE DEFENCE MINISTRY SIGN READING IN JAPANESE: 'MINISTRY OF DEFENSE' VARIOUS OF JAPANESE SELF DEFENSE FORCE PERSONNEL RUNNING ONTO FIELD IN FRONT OF PATRIOT ADVANCED CAPABILITY 3 (PAC-3) MISSILE LAUNCHERS PAC-3 MISSILE LAUNCHER JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIKO NODA WALKING TO PODIUM IN FRONT OF TROOPS NODA ON PODIUM TROOPS STANDING TO ATTENTION (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIKO NODA, SAYING: "We must take all possible measures to protect the lives and property of the Japanese people." TROOPS LISTENING TO SPEECH BEHIND BARBED WIRE NODA ARRIVING TO ADDRESS JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIKO NODA, SAYING: "I wanted to see myself how prepared the PAC-3 launchers are. I wanted to see with my own eyes that we have taken all possible measures to prepare for the North Korean launch." BADGE ON NODA'S JACKET READING IN ENGLISH 'AIR SELF DEFENSE FORCE JAPAN' (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIKO NODA, SAYING: "The upcoming election is of course important, but we must prioritise the safety of Japan and protecting the Japanese people. At this time I am focussing my efforts on my duties to the public, but in the short time left before voting day I will do my best to ask the public for their support." NODA DEPARTING
  • Embargoed: 22nd December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Korea, Republic of
  • City:
  • Country: Japan Korea, Republic of
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5TY5AVK6WPWU3XMIPJUG7F45D
  • Story Text: Japan and South Korea continued to ramp up defensive preparations on Friday (December 7), as the clock ticked down to a North Korean rocket launch expected to cross both nations in its flightpath in the next few weeks.
    Pyongyang has announced it will launch a rocket some time between December 10-22.
    It also notified its neighbours there was a risk that debris could fall along the proposed flightpath over South Korean and Japanese waters, similar to a failed launch in April this year.
    In the Japanese capital, Japanese Prime Minster Yoshihiko Noda visited two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptors.
    The government has also put batteries of Patriot missile launchers on stand-by across the country's southern Okinawa prefecture to bring down the rocket if it goes off course.

    "We must take all possible measures to protect the lives and property of the Japanese people," Noda told assembled Self Defense Force personnel.
    Japan's defence ministry is focussing its attention on the rocket's expected southerly flight path, deploying Aegis radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors to the sea between Japan and South Korea and the East China Sea.

    "I wanted to see myself how prepared the PAC-3 launchers are. I wanted to see with my own eyes that we have taken all possible measures to prepare for the North Korean launch," Noda said.
    The rocket launch comes at a time when Japanese politics is centred on the December 16 general election.
    But Noda stressed his attention was still on security.

    "The upcoming election is of course important, but we must prioritise the safety of Japan and protecting the Japanese people. At this time I am focussing my efforts on my duties to the public, but in the short time left before voting day I will do my best to ask the public for their support," Noda said.
    Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura, also said on Wednesday (December 5) Japan was co-operating with both South Korea and the United States on security strategy, and attempting to dissuade North Korea from going ahead with the launch through Chinese and Russian diplomats.
    In Seoul, a government spokesman said North Korea was frittering away money on a rocket, rather than feeding its people.

    "The North Korean leadership is going to destroy its funding, which can feed its people for years, by launching the missile. We call for a prompt resolution of the situation," Kim Hyung-Suk told a Unification Ministry briefing.
    The rocket launch has been condemned by South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia as it is seen as a means of testing a long-range missile that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead.
    Pyongyang insists its rocket programme is peaceful.
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