Japan is ready to shoot down any North Korean rocket headed toward its territory, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada warned yesterday.
North Korea has said it is ready to launch what it calls an experimental communications satellite, despite growing appeals from countries that suspect Pyongyang is planning a missile test to call off its plans.
The US and its Asian allies see such a launch as a pretext to test the Taepodong-2 missile, which could theoretically reach Alaska.
“If there’s a possibility that an object could lose control and drop on Japan, the object becomes our target, including a satellite,” Hamada said. “It’s only natural for us to deal with it.”
The Kyodo news agency, quoting an unnamed defense source, reported that Japan is considering deploying two AEGIS-equipped destroyers carrying the Standard Missile-3 interceptor to the Sea of Japan.
“We would have no other choice but to intercept,” a senior Maritime Self-Defense Force officer was quoted as saying, referring to a scenario in which a missile or a rocket was launched and believed headed for Japan.
Defense ministry spokesman Katashi Toyota declined to confirm the report.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso indicated on Monday that a North Korean rocket launch — even one carrying a satellite — would lead to UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.
The North has said it was preparing to launch a satellite and it had the right to do so as part of a peaceful space program.
Meanwhile, the new US envoy on North Korea arrived in Beijing yesterday for talks on how to coax the North into fresh steps toward nuclear disarmament.
Beijing is the first stop on Stephen Bosworth’s first visit to Asia since he was nominated last month for the job of overseeing protracted nuclear negotiations with North Korea.
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