Japan yesterday ordered its military to prepare to shoot down a North Korean ballistic missile after Pyongyang this week said it was ready to launch its first military spy satellite.
Placing the satellite into orbit would require a long-range projectile, which North Korea is banned from launching because the UN views such exercises as tests of ballistic missile technology.
Japanese Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada yesterday told the country’s Self-Defense Forces “there is a possibility of ordering destructive measures against ballistic missiles and others,” a statement from the defense ministry said.
Photo: KCNA via Reuters
Hamada instructed troops to “implement measures necessary to limit damage in the event of a ballistic missile falling.”
He ordered preparations for the deployment of destroyers equipped with SM-3 missile interceptors, as well as military units in the southern prefecture of Okinawa that can operate Patriot PAC-3 missiles.
In 2012 and 2016, North Korea tested ballistic missiles that Pyongyang called satellite launches. Both missiles flew over the Okinawa region.
Japanese media yesterday reported that the defense ministry issued the same preparation orders in 2012.
Pyongyang has not provided a launch date, with leader Kim Jong-un only saying that the satellite would be sent up “at the planned date.”
On Tuesday, G7 foreign ministers meeting in Japan demanded that North Korea refrain from any further ballistic missile tests following a spate of launches this year.
The group of rich nations also warned Pyongyang against carrying out an expected nuclear weapons test and said there would be a “robust” response if it did not comply.
A week ago Pyongyang said it had successfully tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, hailing it as a breakthrough for the country’s nuclear counterattack capabilities.
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
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A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
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