After Pyongyang declared this week that it was prepared to launch its first military spy satellite, Japan on Saturday gave the order to its military to get ready to shoot down a North Korean ballistic missile.
Because the UN sees such drills as testing of ballistic missile technology, North Korea is prohibited from firing long-range projectiles necessary to put the satellite into orbit.
According to a statement from the Ministry of defence, Japanese minister Yasukazu Hamada informed the nation’s Self-Defense Forces on Saturday that “there is a possibility of ordering destructive measures against ballistic missiles and others.”
Hamada gave the order to “implement measures necessary to limit damage in the event of a ballistic missile falling” to the soldiers.
He gave the go-ahead for the deployment of military troops that can control Patriot PAC-3 missiles in the southern Okinawa prefecture and destroyers that are outfitted with SM-3 missile interceptors.
North Korea fired ballistic missiles it referred to be satellite launches in 2012 and 2016. Both rockets passed over the area of Okinawa.
The identical preparedness orders were issued by the defense ministry in 2012, according to Japanese media on Saturday.
Kim Jong Un, the leader of Pyongyang, has simply stated that the satellite will be launched “at the planned date” rather than providing a specific date.
Following a string of launches this year, the G7 foreign ministers gathering in Japan on Tuesday ordered that North Korea cease all additional ballistic missile tests.
The group of wealthy nations also threatened Pyongyang with a “robust” response if it carried out an anticipated nuclear weapons test.
Pyongyang announced a week ago that it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile with solid fuel, heralding it as a major development for the nation’s nuclear counterattack capabilities.
