North Korea Plans To Launch Spy Satellite, Japan Deploys Ballistic Missile Defense

JAKARTA - Japan placed its ballistic missile defenses on Monday, warning they would shoot down any projectiles that threatened its territory, after North Korea notified Japan of a satellite launch between May 31 and June 11.

North Korea said it had completed its first military spy satellite, with leader Kim Jong-un having approved final preparations for the launch.

Meanwhile, analysts say the satellite is part of a surveillance technology program, which includes drones, aiming to enhance North Korea's nuclear-armed capabilities to strike targets in the event of a war.

"We will take destructive action against ballistic missiles and others that will certainly land on our territory," Japan's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Defense said it would use Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) or Patriot Missile PAC-3 to destroy North Korea's missiles.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that any North Korean missile launch would be a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions condemning its nuclear and missile activities.

"We strongly urge North Korea to refrain from launching," his office said in a post on Twitter, adding it would cooperate with US allies, South Korea and other countries, doing everything it could to collect and analyze information from each launch.

Separately, South Korea joined Japan in calling on North Korea to cancel the planned launch of the satellite.

"We urge North Korea to withdraw an illegal plan to launch immediately. If North Korea continues, it will pay its price and suffer," a spokesman for South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Closed North Korea has carried out a series of missile launches and weapons tests in recent months, including the new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.

This month, Leader Kim inspected military satellite facilities, state news agency KCNA reported.

Long before, North Korea had tried several times to launch a "earth observation" satellite, two of which appeared to have been successfully placed in orbit, the latest in 2016.

Last month, Japan deployed a destroyer carrying SM-3 interceptor missiles that could target space targets into the East China Sea. In addition, ground-based PAC-3 missiles were also deployed, designed to attack the warhead closer to land, to the islands of Okinawa.

Japan estimates North Korea will fire rockets carrying its satellites into a range of southwestern islands as it did in 2016, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

"The government recognizes that it is possible satellites could pass through our country's territory," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a routine briefing after North Korea notified the Japanese coast guard of the planned launch.