Japan Prepares to Intercept Possibly Errant N. Korean Missile

[American Patriot]

Friday, 23 March 2012 Japan Prepares to Intercept Possibly Errant N. Korean Missile

Steve Herman | Seoul

[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/300*369/Reuters+Japan+Defense+Min+Tanaka+23Mar12+300.jpg[/IMG] Photo: Reuters
Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka


The Japanese parliament has approved a resolution condemning North Korea's planned missile launch, and the country is also preparing contingencies should the missile veer off course and pose a threat to Japan.

Speaking in Tokyo Friday, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said the Japanese military will be prepared for any eventuality.



Tanaka says he is ordering officials to prepare deployment of PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles and Aegis destroyers carrying a state-of-the-art anti-missile system that could attempt to shoot down the rocket.

Pyongyang says it will place an earth observation satellite into a polar orbit in mid-April to honor the 100th birth anniversary of its late founder and perennial president, Kim Il Sung.

Members of the international community say the launch is a pretext for a long-range missile test, which North Korea is forbidden from conducting under U.N. sanctions.

South Korean and Japanese diplomats met in Seoul to share their responses to the upcoming launch. Japan's nuclear envoy, Shinsuke Sugiyama, says Tokyo and Seoul are also in contact with other capitals.

"We agreed we should keep coordinating our positions and comparing notes between ROK [South Korea] and Japan, and also including those in Washington, and of course we should be ready to talk to the Chinese, which I will do, and Russians too as a member of the six-party talks," said Sugiyama.

The six-party talks were intended to negotiate an end to North Korea's nuclear programs. But in 2009 Pyongyang announced it would “never again” participate after the U.N. Security Council moved to condemn North Korea for a failed launch that year.

North Korea also claimed that was a satellite launch, but observers reported the missile ended up falling into the Pacific Ocean.

Aerospace industry sources say Japan's response to next month's North Korea launch is a political gesture. But it would provide a rare opportunity for the Japanese to train its personnel to track a missile from a potentially hostile source.

Japan is the only country, except for the United States, with the ship-based SM-3 Block 1-a missiles, part of the sophisticated Aegis weapons system. Those missiles have a range of 500 kilometers and can fly above the atmosphere to destroy ballistic missiles.

The U.S. Navy has Aegis-equipped ships in Japan, as well. And the U.S. Army stations Patriot missiles, which can reach an altitude of 24,000 meters, at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.

Japan and the United States had these anti-missile systems ready for action during the 2009 North Korea launch.

North Korea has told international authorities the first stage of its rocket next month should fall into waters off South Korea's west coast and the second stage is to drop off the east coast of the Philippines.

The Philippines' defense minister has requested help from the United States to monitor the launch's trajectory.

Speaking in Singapore, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned a launch by North Korea would discourage international donors, worsening the humanitarian situation in the isolated and impoverished country.

The United States says if North Korea goes ahead with the launch the deal made last month with Pyongyang can not go through. The agreement would provide the North with badly-needed food aid in exchange for a partial freeze of its nuclear programs.

[American Patriot]

Looks like the South will shoot it down as well:

May shoot down North Korea rocket, says South

Agencies
Seoul, March 27, 2012




First Published: 00:30 IST(27/3/2012)
Last Updated: 00:32 IST(27/3/2012)

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Seoul warned on Monday that it might shoot down parts of a North Korean rocket that violate South Korean territory, as worries about what Washington calls a long-range missile test overshadowed an international nuclear security summit. Nearly 60 world leaders gathered on Monday in Seoul




to talk about ways to keep nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists. But North Korea has dominated attention in Northeast Asia since announcing earlier this month that it would send a satellite into space aboard a long-range rocket.
North Korea calls the launch part of its peaceful space programme and says a new southerly flight path is meant to avoid other countries; previous rockets have been fired over Japan. Washington and Seoul, however, say the multistage rocket is meant to test delivery systems for long-range missiles that could be mounted with nuclear weapons.
“We are studying measures such as tracking and shooting down (parts) of a North Korean missile in case they stray out of their normal trajectory” and violate South Korean territory, said Yoon Won-shik, a vice spokesman at the defence ministry.
The South Korean and US militaries know that North Korea has moved the main body of the rocket into a building at a site near the village of Tongchang-ri in North Phyongan province and that it is making preparations for a launch, Yoon said.
The Tongchang-ri launch site is about 50km from the Chinese border city of Dandong. Analysts describe it as a new, more sophisticated site that would allow the North to fire the rocket from the west coast to avoid sending it over other countries.
Ukraine surrenders enriched uranium
A consignment of enriched uranium — enough to make a nuclear weapon, according to a US expert — rumbled out of a Ukrainian railway depot late on Saturday bound for Russia, a move designed to coincide with an international summit on nuclear security.
The 19kg (42 pounds) of spent highly enriched uranium, loaded in four containers onto rail carriers in a high-security operation, was the last such material to be removed from the ex-Soviet republic under a two-year programme with the United States and Russia.
Altogether, some 200kg of weapons-grade material have been removed from Ukraine and sent back to Russia — the originating country — since May 2010. The material will be delivered to the Mayak reprocessing nuclear facility in Russia’s Ural mountains — a rail journey of about five days from Kiev.
Japan down to one nuclear reactor
Japan was on Monday left with only one nuclear reactor after Tokyo Electric Power Co shuttered its final generator for safety checks. Only one of Japan’s 54 units — in Hokkaido — is still working, and that is scheduled to be shut down in May.

[American Patriot]

Japan Orders Interception of NKorean Rocket



(TOKYO) — Japan's defense minister on Friday ordered missile units to intercept a rocket expected to be launched by North Korea next month if it flies over Japan.



The order from Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka came at a meeting of Japan's national security council. It followed instructions issued earlier in the week for the military to prepare to intercept the satellite rocket if it enters Japanese territory. (MORE: North Korea to Preserve and Display Kim Jong Il's Body)


The Unha-3 rocket is expected to fly past western Japan after its launch from North Korea's west coast sometime between April 14 and 16. The plan has raised concerns that a failed launch, or a falling stage of the rocket, could endanger Japanese lives or property.



A statement from the Defense Ministry said Japan would send destroyers equipped with Aegis missile defense systems to the Pacific and East China Sea and deploy mobile Patriot missile launchers to islands in Okinawa. An interceptor missile unit is also likely to be deployed in Tokyo, although the capital is well away from the expected flight path.


Seoul has also warned it might shoot down any parts of the North Korean rocket that pass over South Korean territory.



North Korea has said it plans to launch a satellite into orbit. Japan, the United States and other countries claim it is also seeking to test the capabilities of its long-range missiles, in violation of international agreements.



Japan mobilized its interceptor units and issued a similar warning to North Korea before a rocket launch in 2009, but did not follow through.
Interceptor missiles on the Japanese destroyers would serve as the first line of defense, and the land-based Patriot missiles would be a backup. Japan has successfully tested its interceptor missiles, but has never used them in a real-world situation.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...#ixzz1qbunogRj

[American Patriot]

North Korea long-range rocket ready to launch

• From: The Australian
• March 31, 2012 12:00AM

NORTH Korea is pushing ahead with a planned satellite launch by long-range rocket despite Western condemnation, satellite images show, as Japan vowed yesterday to shoot down the rocket if it poses a threat.

Images taken yesterday show work to prepare the launch pad appears under way, according to the 38 North site (38north.org), which published images taken by US firm DigitalGlobe.
The nuclear-armed North Korea insists it will go ahead with what it calls the peaceful launch of a scientific satellite from its Tongchang-ri site in the northwest next month.
The US and other nations say the exercise is a disguised long-range missile test, calling the plan a provocative breach of UN resolutions and of a US-North Korean agreement reached last month.
South Korean newspapers said the North had test-fired two short-range missiles off its west coast this week.
The 38 North website said the images it took showed a mobile launch pad on tracks next to a gantry tower. A crane appeared to have been loading equipment on to the gantry, and small objects and people could be seen on the pad, it said.


At the two propellant storage buildings to the right of the pad, which contain tanks to supply the Unha-3 rocket's first stage, trucks could be seen delivering fuel and oxidiser.
38 North said preparation for the launch "seems to be progressing on schedule" and the next step would be moving the first stage to the pad, probably this weekend.
This would be followed by the second stage a day or two later, with the third stage and payload probably following by Monday or Tuesday. "Unless some major setback occurs, the North Koreans will be able to launch during the declared launch window starting April 12," the site said.
Pyongyang has said it will launch the satellite some time in the morning between April 12-16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founding president, Kim Il-sung.
It says the satellite will estimate crop yields and collect weather data, among other tasks.
Japan fears the rocket may pass over its southern island chain of Okinawa. Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said he had ordered troops to shoot it down if it threatened Japanese territory.
North Korea fired off long-range missiles in 1998, 2006 and 2009. After the two most recent launches it swiftly followed up with an underground nuclear test, and some analysts see a similar scenario unfolding.

[American Patriot]

North Korea missile launches raise tensions

• Satellite images show preparations for long-range launch
• Japan puts self-defence forces on standby to intercept rocket
• South says two short-range missiles launched on Wednesday

• Justin McCurry in Tokyo
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 March 2012 07.28 EDT

The Ryugyong Hotel above Pyongyang's skyline. Construction workers are trying to finish projects for Kim Il-sung's 100th anniversary. Photograph: Greg Baker/AP

North Korea's test-launch of two short-range missiles this week has raised anxiety levels in the region, as the regime in Pyongyang prepares to defy international opinion with the launch next month of a long-range rocket, which many believe is connected to its ballistic missile programme.
South Korean defence officials said that North Korea had launched two surface-to-ship missiles from a site on its west coast early on Wednesday, a day after world leaders attending a nuclear security summit in Seoul urged the regime to cancel the rocket launch and return to six-party nuclear talks.
North Korea insists that the forthcoming launch, which is expected around 15 April to coincide with the centenary of the birth of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, is designed to put an observation satellite into orbit.
The US, South Korea and Japan, however, say it would be a violation of UN security council resolutions banning North Korea from missile activity, as the same technology could be developed for use in multistage missiles, including those capable of hitting the US mainland.
If the launch goes ahead it will immediately kill off a deal, which was reached at the end of February, in which the US agreed to provide 240,000 tonnes of food aid provided that Pyongyang end its uranium enrichment programme and tests of long-range and nuclear missiles.
The prospect of a fourth North Korean long-range missile launch since 1998 is causing disquiet across the region, partly due to concerns that it will veer off course and potentially dump debris on its neighbours' territory.
On Friday Indonesia's foreign minister Marty Natalegawa urged North Korea to abandon the launch, saying it would "undermine peace and stability in the region".
The Philippine president, Benigno Aquino, said he was concerned that debris may fall on his country's territory, calling the planed launch a "needless provocation".
Japan is concerned that the rocket may fly over the southern island chain of Okinawa and has ordered its self-defence forces to intercept the rocket or its fragments if they pose a threat.
In an unusual show of transparency, Pyongyang has told the international maritime organisation that the rocket will be launched between 7am and noon from 12-16 April. The first stage of the Unha-3 rocket will come down about 87 miles (140km) off the west coast of South Korea, while the second will fly over a chain near the main Okinawa island before falling into the sea east of the northern Philippines.
Japan's defence minister, Naoki Tanaka, said the odds of the rocket striking Japan were low, but added: "We want to be fully prepared for the possibility of rocket fragments falling on our territory."
Japan will deploy ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles in its south-west and Okinawa, and send three Aegis-equipped destroyers carrying missile defence systems to the Japan Sea and East China Sea.
Experts doubt Japan has the ability to shoot down the rocket in mid-flight; instead, the precautionary moves appear to be aimed at reassuring the public that Tokyo is taking North Korea's latest provocation seriously.
The planned launch is causing particular alarm in Japan, which is already within striking distance of North Korea's medium-range Rodong missiles.
In a report published on Friday, the national institute for defence studies in Tokyo warned that North Korea's progress on nuclear technology, coupled with recent regime change, had increased the risk of conflict breaking out in the region.
Satellite images taken earlier this week show North Korea is making preparations for the missile launch from its Tongchang-ri site, located about 35 miles from the northern border with China. Expert analysis showed trucks and fuel tanks outside two large buildings used to store propellant for the rocket, although the rocket itself was not visible.

[Beetle]

What would happen if we started shooting test missiles over North Korea?

[American Patriot]

They'd pee their panties...

[American Patriot]

Japan to deploy destroyers, missile batteries ahead of North Korea's planned rocket launch

By Matthew M. Burke Stars and Stripes
Published: March 26, 2012

Related

• Newest Japan-US alliance could get early test from North Korea
• President Obama visits DMZ in Korea
• 'No rewards' for bad behavior, Obama tells North Korea
• DOD suspends efforts to retrieve Korean War remains

A ground-based interceptor lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2008. The missile successfully intercepted a long-range target launched from Kodiak, Alaska.


Joe Davila/U.S. Navy




SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Japanese will deploy three Aegis destroyers and move Patriot missile batteries to Okinawa to intercept a North Korean rocket next month should any piece of it approach Japanese territory or waters, according to Japanese media reports.


Citing unnamed government officials, Japanese news reports said two of the destroyers would depart from Sasebo Naval Base, which it shares with the U.S. military in Nagasaki prefecture, and head for the East China Sea. A third destroyer would deploy from Maizuru, Kyoto prefecture, and head for the Sea of Japan.


All three ships are equipped with Standard Missile-3 interceptors, a system co-developed by and purchased from the U.S. government, according to Capt. Choji Yoshida, spokesman for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Sasebo district headquarters.


Officials in the Japanese government declined to comment, but Yoshida confirmed that at least one ship from Sasebo — the JS Chokai — will head to the East China Sea in early April.


“They will be tracking the missile and transmitting information,” Yoshida said. Sailors onboard the Chokai will also participate in routine training, he said.


The reclusive communist regime in Pyongyang recently announced it plans to launch a satellite-toting rocket in the next few weeks; something the U.S. and South Korean governments believe is a ruse meant to cover for a long-range missile test.


The rocket is expected to pass over the Sakishima island chain in Okinawa, at the southernmost tip of Japan, sometime in mid-April, according to Japanese media reports.


Should the destroyers miss their target, ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile interceptors are also being deployed to two Air Self-Defense Force bases on Okinawa, an ASDF base on Miyako Island and at a site on Ishigaki Island, the news reports say.

[Beetle]

They'd pee their panties...

Before we fire the first shot, we will air drop some Depends.

[Malsua]

Read up on the history of that building. The Norks started building it in 87 and ran out of cash in 92 because their paymasters in the Soviet Union stopped donating when the CCCP went out of business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugyong_Hotel

[American Patriot]

Asia RSS Feed

April 02, 2012
New Images Show North Korea Readying for Rocket Launch

VOA News



[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/300*300/AP+N+Korea+rocket+launch+site+2Apr12+300.jpg[/IMG] Photo: AP/DigitalGlobe


This March 28, 2012 satellite file image provided by DigitalGlobe shows North Korea’s Tongchang-ri Launch Facility on the nation’s western coast.




New satellite images of a North Korean rocket site show evidence of increased preparation for a space launch that Washington sees as cover for a long-range missile test.

The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said Sunday that satellite photos taken last Wednesday show a mobile radar trailer, not previously present at the new Tongchang-ri site, and rows of what appear to be empty fuel and oxidizer tanks.

The Institute said the photos also show what appears to be activity near the launcher assembly building, where news reports indicate the stages of the Unha-3 rocket are located.

Pyongyang says the launch will put a functional satellite into orbit as part of the celebration of the 100th birthday of the late leader Kim Il Sung, the founder of the communist state and Kim Jong Un's grandfather.

The United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan all have condemned the planned launch. Even Pyongyang's long-time ally, China, has expressed rare disapproval, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply concerned."

The Aspen Institute "think tank" in Berlin said Sunday that North Korean and American delegations had held informal talks in Germany. Charles King Mallory, executive director of the Institute, confirmed the meeting but did not comment in detail on the contents of the so-called "track two" talks or who participated in them.

"Yes there was a meeting," admitted Mallory, "it discussed the four principle areas of the September 15th 2009 joint statement, those would be: peace treaty, they would be economic cooperation and development, denuclearization and confidence building measures, that's what happened."

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Pyongyang will hold a special Workers' Party conference on April 11, just days before the satellite launch. Analysts say the delegates are likely to appoint the country's new leader, Kim Jong Un, to the post of party general-secretary, previously held by his father Kim Jong Il, who died in December.

The North's announcement of the launch plan came just over two weeks after Pyongyang reached a deal with the United States to suspend operations at its Yongbyon uranium enrichment plant and impose a moratorium on long-range missile tests and nuclear tests in return for 240,000 tons of food aid.

Washington said last week it is suspending plans to start food deliveries as it can no longer trust the North to stick to arrangements on monitoring distribution.

Pyongyang criticized the U.S. move Saturday as an "over-reaction" that would kill the February 29 agreement.

[American Patriot]

North Korea Refusing to Scrap Missile Launch

Posted Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 at 5:40 am


North Korea's nuclear envoy says Pyongyang will still proceed with this month's scheduled rocket launch, despite lengthy meetings with U.S. officials in Germany this week.


Ri Gun arrived in the Chinese capital city Tuesday from Germany, as international tensions increase over the planned launch.



Pyongyang says the launch is aimed to place a weather satellite in orbit, but the U.S., South Korea and other nations believe the North will test a long-range missile. Ri Gun says the two sides had a “natural, in-depth” discussion, but says the North still has the right to carry out the launch.


“We will exercise our universal rights. I told them not to look at the satellite launch for the development of space from a confrontation aspect and advised them to take an objective and fair position to understand the peaceful goal of our artificial satellite.''


Pyongyang says it will launch the satellite to mark the upcoming 100th birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.

[American Patriot]

Published: 12:43 AM, Tue Apr 03, 2012
Satellite images show preparations for North Korea missile launch



By Foster Klug
The Associated Press


SEOUL, South Korea - New satellite images of a North Korean rocket launch site show a mobile radar trailer and rows of what appear to be empty fuel and oxidizer tanks, evidence of ramped-up preparation for what Washington calls a cover for a long-range missile test.


An analysis of images provided Monday to The Associated Press by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies shows Pyongyang "has undertaken more extensive preparations for its planned April rocket launch than previously understood." The images were taken Wednesday.


A mobile radar trailer essential for any launch stands at the end of a new dirt road running from the entrance of the Tongchang-ri site; it has a dish antenna that's probably a radar tracking system, according to the institute's analysis. Radar tracking during a launch gives engineers crucial real-time information on the performance of the rocket's engines, guidance system and other details.


"These pictures are new and important evidence that the North's preparations for its rocket launch are progressing according to schedule," said Joel Wit, visiting fellow at the institute and editor of its website on North Korea, "38 North." The images are from Digital Globe, a commercial satellite photography company.


North Korea says the launch, set for sometime between April 12 and 16, will fire a satellite into orbit to study the country's crops and natural resources. It is also meant to honor one of the country's most important days - the centennial of the April 15 birth of national founder Kim Il Sung.


Washington says North Korea uses such launches to test missile systems for nuclear weapons that could target the United States. While North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests, analysts don't believe it has yet mastered the technology needed to shrink a nuclear weapon and mount it onto a missile.


Any launch would be the end of a Feb. 29 accord between North Korea and the United States that would ship U.S. food aid to the impoverished North in exchange for a moratorium on missile and nuclear tests, as well as a suspension of nuclear work at its main Yongbyon nuclear facility. The U.S. says plans to provide food to the North Korea are already on hold.


The launch would be the fourth of its kind since 1998, when Pyongyang sent a long-range rocket hurtling over Japan. The last rocket launch, in 2009, led to U.N. condemnation and the North walking away from six-nation nuclear disarmament talks; weeks later, it carried out its second nuclear test.


The planned launch could demonstrate if North Korea is closer to perfecting a multistage rocket that could hit the United States. Analysts fear a new launch could spur a chain of events that would mirror 2009 and send tensions soaring again on the Korean peninsula. A year after the last test, 50 South Koreans were killed in attacks blamed on North Korea.


The new satellite images show what are likely empty fuel and oxidizer tanks in previously empty, fenced-in areas, the institute's analysis says.


"The tanks were apparently dumped in these locations after their contents were transferred to buildings that will directly fuel the first stage of the Unha-3" rocket, according to the analysis. "The large number of apparently empty tanks indicates that the transfer process may have been close to completion."


The announcement of the latest launch came just two weeks after the Feb. 29 U.S.-North Korean nuclear-freeze-for-aid agreement, which had buoyed hopes for improved relations between the wartime enemies under new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He came to power after his father Kim Jong Il died of a heart attack in December.


North Korea's ruling party announced Monday that it will hold an important political conference April 11 in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Un is expected to gain new titles at the conference, which comes shortly before the planned launch.


The North's new Tongchang-ri rocket launch site is about 35 miles (55 kilometers) from the Chinese border city of Dandong. North Korea has said that the southerly flight path from the site was chosen so debris wouldn't hurt neighboring countries.


But there has been widespread fear over falling debris from the rocket. Japan's defense minister has ordered missile units to intercept the rocket if it or its fragments threaten to hit Japan. Seoul has also warned it might shoot down any parts of the North Korean rocket heading for South Korean territory.


South Korean defense officials have said the main body of the three-stage rocket was transported to a building in Tongchang-ri.

[American Patriot]

No-fly zone declared over Nokor missile launch

Tuesday, 03 April 2012 22:07 Recto L. Mercene and Rene Acosta / Reporters



The government will impose a no-fly zone and sailing ban in the area where debris from a long-range missile that will be launched by North Korea next week is expected to fall.


Declared no-fly zone from April 12 to 16 are parts of the Philippines Flight Information Region (FIR) in the northern part of the country, encompassing the area routinely used by all aircraft for overflights or those coming to land in the Philippines.


In a Notice-to-Airmen (Notam), issued on April 3, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) said the affected airways are normally used by Korean Air, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, All Nippon, Garuda Indonesia and Philippine Airlines.


The areas bounded by Airways A590 (Gurag-Jomalig), A562 (Bisig-Jomalig), M501(Limle-Bedip), R587(Skate-Cabanatuan) are declared closed to aircraft operations due to the satellite launching, the Notam said.


The Caap issued the Notam to clarify earlier reports that the Philippines will be a no-fly zone, according to Director General Ramon Gutierrez.


The Notam advised pilots to use MEVIN B462 Airway as their alternate route or point of entry

during the specified time of closure. Pilots are familiar with MEVIN B462 Airway, which is clearly delineated in aeronautical maps, normally carried aboard by airplanes, Caap said.


The declaration of a no-fly zone was announced also on Tuesday in a meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in Camp Aguinaldo that was attended by concerned agencies of the government.


Benito Ramos, NDRRMC executive director, said that since North Korea’s missile launch is expected between April 12 and April 16, the no-fly zone and the sailing ban should be observed within that period, with the restrictions covering areas located 190 nautical miles east of Northern Luzon, particularly in Santa Ana, Cagayan.


Pyongyang said it was firing a long-range missile to launch a satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s founding ruler and grandfather of its current president.


The scheduled missile launch has been denounced by several countries, including the US, the Philippines and North Korea’s other neighbors.


In the meeting, the NDRRMC charted the possible course of the missile. It said it would pass through the West Sea and Yellow Sea, and between Taiwan and Okinawa in Japan on its way to the eastern portion of Northern Luzon.


“All of these three countries have the capabilities [to shoot it down]. South Korea has its Patriot missile and Japan also has it. The US is also present in Okinawa, so before it reaches us, we are already cleared,” Ramos said.


He added that the three countries have made statements that they will bring the missile down once it crosses their airspaces.


According to Ramos, the no-fly zone and sailing ban, which will be observed from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., were adopted because of the possibility that the missile could reach the Philippines.


When asked about the radius of the ban’s coverage, he said, “Above and below, that 190 nautical northeast [should start from] Santa Ana up to Polilio [Quezon].”


The no-fly zone should affect at least 100 flights or 20 flights a day, but commercial planes could take other routes.


Before he left for the Asean summit in Cambodia on Monday, President Aquino said he would raise the missile-launch issue before other Asean leaders in Phnom Penh even if any call to be made by the 10-member regional group may land on deaf ears.


Also on Tuesday in a press briefing, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the defense department and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are in close coordination with the commander of the US Pacific Command’s 7th Fleet.


But he added that he doubted Pyongyang would heed the growing international demand for it not to pursue the launch.


“Based on historical facts, North Korea does not listen to the majority. We can only assume the missile launch would be perfect but North Korea has not been successful in its previous operations,” Gazmin said.
With Zaff Solmerin

[American Patriot]

WHY are WE feeding these fucks?

N. Korea rocket launch estimated at $850M


North Korea's upcoming long-range rocket launch is estimated to cost $850 million
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Tweet
Published: April 2, 2012 at 9:00 AM

SEOUL, April 2 (UPI) -- North Korea's upcoming long-range rocket launch is estimated to cost $850 million, enough to feed 19 million people for one year, South Korea said.
A South Korean military officials said North Korea should spend the money on food for its hungry people, rather than rocket technology, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.
"North Korea has suffered a deficit of 400,000 tons of food every year. So, the money could resolve the problem of food shortages for six years," the official told Yonhap.
North Korea said the rocket launch, which is opposed by the international community because of concerns the North is trying to test international ballistic missile technology banned under a U.N. resolution, is designed to put a satellite into orbit.
The launch coincides with the 100th anniversary of North Korea's founder Kim II Sung. Yonhap said North Korea is expected to spend $2 billion to celebrate the April 15th anniversary.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne...#ixzz1qztUjJGc

[vector7]

Japan deploys missile batteries as North Korea readies long-range rocket

Agence France-Presse
Apr 8, 2012 – 4:04 PM ET | Last Updated: Apr 8, 2012 5:24 PM ET


PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images

North Korean plans to launch its Unha-3 rocket next week despite international pressure. Japan says it will shoot the rocket down if it threatens Japan’s territory.

By Gilles Campion
TONGCHANG-RI SPACE CENTRE, North Korea — North Korea’s Unha-3 long-range rocket was on its launch platform Sunday as the regime insisted again that it is part of a peaceful space program and not a disguised ballistic missile, as the U.S. claims.

The usually secretive North organize an unprecedented visit for foreign reporters to Tongchang-ri space centre in an effort to show its rocket.

Communist North Korea says it will launch the satellite for scientific research between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung. His birthday was on April 15.
“To say this is a missile test is really nonsense,” said Jang Myong-Jin, head of the space centre.

“This launch was planned long ago, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of [late] president Kim Il-Sung. We are not doing it for provocative purposes.”

The rocket would propel the Kwangmyongsong-3 (Shining Star) satellite into orbit to observe the earth and collect data on forests and natural resources in impoverished but nuclear-armed North Korea, officials said.

A successful mission would burnish the image of young Kim Jong-Un as he seeks to establish his credentials as a strong leader after taking over from his father and longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il, who died last December.

Washington, Japan and South Korea have all condemned the move, saying any missile would contravene United Nations sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea’s missile program. China, the North’s major ally, has urged restraint.

Related

• Peter Goodspeed: Duelling tests could pit North Korean rocket against U.S. shield
• Matt Gurney: Obama’s tough-ish talk with China long overdue

There are also heightened fears that the novice administration of the young Kim could be readying for a third nuclear weapons test.

On Saturday in response to the imminent launch, Japan deployed missile batteries in central Tokyo, and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has given the green light to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japan’s territory.

“We will not tolerate any violation of our national sovereignty. We did not shoot down satellite launches from Japan or South Korea. Why are they threatening us?” Jang said.


PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images
The Unha-3 rocket at Tangachai-ri space centre.

But the head of the space centre sought to appease the worries of neighbouring countries.

“We can press the button to destroy the rocket and there is also a device in the launching vehicle which can judge whether it is out of the range and destroy itself if it deviates,” he said.

It is the first time North Korea has allowed foreign journalists to go to the new space centre built on the Cholsan peninsula, in the northwest of North Korea, 50 kilometres from the Chinese border.

The journalists, who arrived by a special train, were able to observe the rocket from 50 metres. It was painted in white with sky blue lettering.

There were no indications when it would blast off.

‘We did not shoot down satellite launches from Japan or South Korea. Why are they threatening us?’

The rocket is 30 metres high and with a diameter of 2.5 metres.

Reporters were also able to see close-up what officials said was the satellite: a 100-kilo (220 pounds) box with five antennae, covered by solar panels to supply it with electricity.

Responding to questions on how much the space program was costing North Korea while its population was suffering chronic malnutrition, Jang stressed the importance of technological development for the country.

“No matter how much you are hungry, you have to continue to develop technology, as without it you will become the most under-developed country in the world,” he said.

He also added that North Korea was planning to launch much more powerful rockets, with a total weight of 400 tonnes compared to the 91 tonnes for the Unha-3 rocket.

“What we saw today, it’s civilian,” said French expert Christian Lardier, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. “But this technology can be used for military ends.”

The North, which is believed to have enough plutonium for six to eight bombs, tested atomic weapons in October 2006 and May 2009. Both were held one to three months after missile tests.

Preparations are under way in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri, where the North carried out the two previous nuclear tests, a South Korean official in Seoul told AFP on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

“Recent satellite images led us to conclude the North has been secretly digging a new underground tunnel in the nuclear test site… besides two others where the previous tests were conducted,” said the source.

Construction of the new tunnel appears to be nearly complete, he said.

Pyongyang’s move to fire a rocket in the next week led the US to suspend a recent deal to offer food aid to the North in return for a freeze on some nuclear and missile activities, drawing an angry reaction from North Korea.

In response to the rocket, Japan has deployed missile batteries in downtown Tokyo and dispatched destroyers.

Patriot missiles were Saturday deployed at the defence ministry in central Tokyo and at two other bases in the region to protect the greater Tokyo area and its population of around 35 million.

The ministry also dispatched three Aegis destroyers carrying interceptor missiles, reportedly to the East China Sea, where it has already deployed Patriot missiles on the southern island chain of Okinawa, beneath the rocket’s forecast flight path.

Talks over North Korea’s nuclear program are also at an impasse.
The six-party discussions, which involve the two Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan, have been at a standstill since the last meeting in December 2008.

Pyongyang in November 2010 disclosed to visiting US experts an apparently operational enriched uranium plant, which could potentially give the North another way to make atomic weapons.

AFP

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North Korea threatens 'merciless punishment' as it readies rocket launch

North Korea has threatened retaliation and "merciless punishment" against any country that shoots down the long-range rocket it is preparing to launch this coming week.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo

7:50PM BST 07 Apr 2012
393 Comments



Japan and South Korea have put their armed forces on standby in response to North Korea's plans, prepared to shoot down the missile if it passes over their territory.

North Korea was this weekend believed to be at the first stage of launching the rocket, expected between April 12 and 16, claiming that it is part of the centenary celebrations for the birth of the state's founder Kim Il Sung.

However, the United States, Japan and South Korea believe that in reality it will be a ballistic missile test in violation of UN resolutions.

It is against such a backdrop of rising regional tensions surrounding the Korean peninsula that David Cameron, the Prime Minister, will arrive in Japan on a two-day visit this week.

His arrival may, by good fortune, coincide with the blooming of the capital's cherry blossoms, but flower appreciation will take a back seat to regional security issues.

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During his visit to Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr Cameron is expected to meet with both the Emperor at the Imperial Palace as well as his counterpart the prime minister Yoshihiko Noda.

One issue that is expected to top the agenda at his meeting with Mr Noda is a discussion about joint development of defence equipment between Japan and the UK, an opportunity for British business after Japan liberised its weapon export laws

The discussions, which will potentially help bolster Japan's military presence in the region, will be timely: it is among a number of Asian nations currently reinforcing its security in response to both a major military build-up of China and instability in North Korea.

The issue is likely to top the agenda this weekend as the foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea meet for annual tri-lateral discussions in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo.

As well as calling on Pyongyang to show restraint over the coming week, Japan and South Korea are likely to urge China – a key benefactor of the renegade North Korean state – to coordinate closely in response with them to the launch.

Meanwhile, satellite images have shown how North Korea's preparations for its rocket launch are already under way, complete with a mobile radar trailer and rows of apparently empty fuel and oxidiser tanks.

In Japan, hundreds of Self-Defence Force personnel have been dispatched to southern Ishigaki in the Okinawa region, which the second stage of the rocket is expected to fly over.

Japan has deployed missile interceptors to seven locations in Okinawa and the Tokyo region, following orders from Naoki Tanaka, Japan's defence minister, to intercept the rocket if necessary to prevent it from falling onto Japanese soil.

Behind the expected appreciation of the cherry blossoms, the green tea and the polite bows for the cameras during Mr Cameron's visit to Japan this week, the North Korea issue is one that will loom constantly in the background.

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Japan deploys missile defenses at 3 locations in Tokyo

National Apr. 08, 2012 - 04:20PM JST ( 36 )

Patriot missiles were Saturday deployed at three military facilities in the greater Tokyo region AFP

TOKYO —

Japan has deployed missile batteries in Tokyo and dispatched destroyers as North Korea makes final preparations for a rocket launch that could take place this week despite fierce condemnation from across the globe.

Pyongyang says it will launch a satellite for peaceful scientific research between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary on April 15 of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

But the United States and its allies say it is a disguised missile test and that the launch would contravene U.N. sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea’s missile program.

A successful satellite launch would burnish the image of young Kim Jong-Un as he seeks to establish his credentials as a strong leader after taking over from his father and longtime ruler, Kim Jong-Il, who died last December.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has given the green light to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japan’s territory.

Patriot missiles were Saturday deployed at the defense ministry in downtown Tokyo and at two other bases in the region to protect the greater Tokyo area.

The ministry also dispatched three Aegis destroyers carrying interceptor missiles, reportedly to the East China Sea where it has already deployed Patriot missiles on the southern island chain of Okinawa, beneath the rocket’s forecast flight path.

“We have taken the best possible measures that we can think of at this point,” senior vice defense minister Shu Watanabe told national broadcaster NHK Sunday.

The move came as a report said North Korea may have moved the first stage of a long-range rocket on to its launch pad.

The 38 North website, a U.S. specialist site, said an April 4 photo of the launch site at Tongchang-ri in the country’s northwest indicated the first stage of the Unha-3 rocket, while not visible, may be placed in the gantry.

Pyongyang has invited foreign experts and reporters to observe the launch which it insists is part of peaceful space research.

The communist state announced the plans despite agreeing on February 29 to freeze its nuclear and missile programs as part of a deal under which the United States would deliver badly needed food aid.

North Korean expert Masao Okonogi said Japan’s missile deployment was politically necessary to calm the public over the rocket launch.

“The step that Japan has taken was aimed at giving psychological assurance to the public that the government has gone so far to deal with North Korea,” Okonogi, a professor at Kyushu University, told AFP.

He warned, however, that North Korea could carry out another nuclear test in response to international condemnation of its rocket launch.

“As one possibility, North Korea could conduct a nuclear test in a protest against condemnation from various countries following the missile experiment,” Okonogi said.

North Korea tested nuclear bombs shortly after its previous missile launches in 2006 and 2009 but Watanabe told Japanese reporters there was no sign Pyongyang was preparing to test an atomic weapon.

In 2009, Japan also ordered missile defense preparations before Pyongyang’s last long-range rocket launch which brought U.N. Security Council condemnation and tightened sanctions against the isolated communist state.

That rocket, which North Korea also said was aimed at putting a satellite into orbit, passed over Japanese territory without incident or any attempt to shoot it down.

© 2012 AFP

[American Patriot]

"...merciless..."

LMAO