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:
466769
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
- 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: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (DECEMBER 7, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SOUTH KOREA'S GOVERNMENT COMPLEX WHERE UNIFICATION MINISTRY IS LOCATED FLAG OF SOUTH KOREAN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT COMPLEX ENTRANCE UNIFICATION MINISTRY SPOKESMAN KIM HYUNG-SUK AT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN UNIFICATION MINISTRY'S SPOKESMAN KIM HYUNG-SUK, SAYING: "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." UNIFICATION OFFICIALS AND JOURNALISTS KIM STANDING AT PODIUM AND JOURNALISTS
- Embargoed: 22nd December 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Korea, Republic of
- City:
- Country: Japan Korea, Republic of
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA6HIPO7CNUPZW13P7I5AH6DEDS
- 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. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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