© Reuters
Japan has vowed to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it is deemed a threat after Kim Jong-un (pictured centre) announced plans to launch a 'satellite.'
Japan has vowed to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it is deemed a threat after Kim Jong-un announced plans to launch a 'satellite'.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned what he called a 'serious provocation' and Japan issued an order to 'destroy' the missile with surface-to-air weapons if it threatened to fall on its territory. The order was given amid fears over the 'possibility that North Korea will launch a missile it calls a "satellite" within coming days,' the statement said.
'Today the defence minister issued an order' to destroy such a missile if it 'is confirmed that it will fall on Japanese territory,' the defence ministry said in a statement. The order will be carried out by
Japan's ballistic missile defence system, which includes PAC-3 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missiles, and similar SM-3 systems aboard warships, the ministry said. The order will be effective until February 25, it added, the end of the launch window announced by Pyongyang that begins on February 8.
Pyongyang announced plans last week for
a launch aimed at putting an Earth observation satellite into orbit - just weeks after conducting its fourth nuclear test. Japan's response came as China expressed 'serious concerns' over North Korea's actions. 'We express serious concerns about that,' foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing. 'We believe that the DPRK has the right to the peaceful use of space but at the moment its relevant right should be subject to the restrictions of the UN Security Council resolutions,' he added, using the North's official name.
Comment: China and Russia working together will only strengthen the position of each country in their struggle to provide an alternative to the US empire. For the Saudis, the loss of their crown to Russia couldn't happen to a nicer bunch!