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1st LD: Japan strongly urges DPRK to refrain from planned satellite launch

Xinhua, February 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday strongly urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to refrain from its planned satellite launch.

Abe said that such a launch would be in clear violation of UN resolutions, adding that Japan would continue to work closely with the United States to strongly demand that the DPRK refrain from its planned launch.

The plans were a provocative act that threatens Japan's national security, he added.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida also urged the DPRK to refrain from the planned launch.

The DPRK has said that it plans to launch a rocket carrying an earth observation satellite at some point between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25.

Pyongyang has informed the International Maritime Organization of its plan.

Japan and the U.S., however, believe the DPRK could be testing a long-range ballistic missile.

"The launch would be in clear defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions," Kishida said.

"We will work with other countries concerned to call for North Korea to refrain from the launch," the foreign minister told a press briefing.

The potential launch has rattled the nerves of the defense ministry here, which has unrolled anti-missile interceptors on both land and sea to shoot down any inbound rocket or missile.

Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Wednesday that the nation's Self-Defense Forces had ramped up surveillance and intelligence gathering related to the possible launch by the DPRK.

"We want to take all possible measures to be ready to deal with any eventuality," Nakatani told reporters.

Nakatani said that Japan is fully poised for any rocket or missile tests by the DPRK, adding that Patriot Advanced Capability-3, or PAC-3, surface-to-air missile systems have been deployed at some 34 locations in and around Tokyo.

While not mentioning specifics, he said that Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis destroyers, equipped with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor systems, have also been deployed in the Sea of Japan and surrounding waters. Enditem