Japan on Alert After Threat of Potential North Korean Missile Launch
Japan's defense minister has readied missile-defense systems.
— -- Japan’s military has been put on alert, and ordered to prepare to intercept a possible North Korean missile, a government source told Japan’s Kyodo News.
Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani gave the order amid signs that Pyongyang may go ahead with a ballistic missile launch.
Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air guided interceptors in central Tokyo were readied as a response to Nakatani's order, and surveillance activities were also stepped up.
A separate government source today told Kyodo News that the Japanese have received indications that Pyongyang is preparing to launch a ballistic missile, possibly an intermediate-range Musudan missile, in the eastern part of North Korea facing the Sea of Japan.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously in favor of sanctioning North Korea in March after a resolution drafted by the United States and China, which is considered to be an ally of the North Korean government.
"Virtually all of [North Korea's] resources are channeled into its reckless and relentless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told the council after the vote.
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