The Triangle

Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: News

Media Credit: MCT

Japan is currently mobilizing its missile defense system in preparation for North Korea's planned commercial rocket launch scheduled between April 4 and April 8, officials said. Japan mobilized in order to shoot down debris from the launch that might fall into Japanese territory.

North Korea says it will fire a rocket to launch a satellite for peaceful purposes.

When this satellite is successfully launched, our space technology will make a great step forward toward becoming an economically strong country," a statement by the official Korean Central News Agency said.

However, the United States, Japan and South Korea fear that North Korea is using this launch to test its Taepodong-2 missile.

In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper, South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak said the launch could help the communist state acquire technology to deliver nuclear weapons.

Japan has moved destroyers carrying air-to-sea missiles to the Sea of Japan and has sent land-to-air missiles to northern Japan.

The probability of a missile successfully hitting a moving target without a known trajectory, or debris, is very low, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshitada Konoike said earlier this week.

Japan also said last Friday that it was capable of shooting down missiles from North Korea.

Japan is legally able to shoot down the object to secure safety if it looks like it will fall on to Japan," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said during a news conference.

The United States are also deploying two U.S. Navy ships to the Sea of Japan, which separates Japan and North Korea. The U.S. ships are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, a Navy spokesman said.

The U.S. ships deployed are "prepared to track a launch or more, if afforded," according to a U.S. Navy official.

The Taepodong-2 missile is thought to have a range of about 4,200 miles, according to CNN, which could give it the capability of striking Alaska or Hawaii.

The United Nations Security Council had passed a resolution in 2006 banning North Korea from conducting ballistic missile testing.

Japanese officials said they could shoot down the object whether it is a missile or a satellite, in accordance with the resolution.

"As the U.N. resolutions prohibit (North Korea) from engaging in ballistic missile activities, we still consider it to be a violation of a technical aspect, even if (the North) claims it is a satellite. We will discuss the matter with related countries based on this view," Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked whether President Barack Obama believed that North Korea was launching a satellite or a missile Mar. 26.

"I don't want to get into the motivations, except to say that we believe that such a launch would be provocative and that such a launch would be in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. We continue to maintain the goal of a denuclearized North Korea and look to working with our allies to ensure that that happens," Gibbs said.

Gibbs said the United States would view the launch violating the resolution whether it is violent or peaceful.

"If the North Koreans were to take the actions that they've proposed through this launch, that we would find that a provocative action in violation of Security Council resolutions," Gibbs said in a press gaggle Mar. 31.

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