Japan asked its military forces on Saturday to be ready to shoot down North Korean ballistic missiles after Pyongyang this week officially launched its first military spy satellite.
Putting a satellite into orbit requires the use of long-range projectiles. But North Korea was barred from launching it as the United Nations was considering such an exercise to test ballistic missile technology.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said on Saturday that there was “the possibility of ordering destructive actions against ballistic and other missiles,” according to a ministry statement.
Hamada urged troops to “implement necessary measures to limit damage if a ballistic missile is downed.”
The minister ordered the country’s forces to prepare for the deployment of destroyers equipped with SM-3 missile interceptors, as well as military units in Okinawa’s southern prefecture that can operate Patriot PAC-3 missiles.
Foreign ministers from the G7, the group of seven most advanced economies, on Tuesday called on North Korea to “refrain” from further missile launches or nuclear tests.
The call by the G7 (Japan, United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and United Kingdom) follows Pyongyang’s intensification of its weapons program, which this month launched its first solid-fuel ballistic missile, a major advance for North Korea. Korean army.
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