LEAD: Defense chief urges N. Korea to show restraint over missile launch+

TOKYO, March 10 Kyodo - (EDS: ADDING ASO'S COMMENTS) Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada urged North Korea on Tuesday to
refrain from launching what it says is a satellite, warning the test-firing of what other countries see as a ballistic missile would destabilize East Asia.

''I believe it's important for the government to call on North Korea to refrain
from an action that would damage peace and stability in the region,'' the
minister told a regular news conference.
Hamada's remark came in response to North Korea's warning Monday that any move
to intercept its ''communications satellite'' would result in a counterstrike.
Prime Minister Taro Aso also warned Pyongyang that it would be a violation of
United Nations Security Council resolutions for the North to launch ''whatever
was highly likely to fly over Japan all of a sudden, regardless of whether the
launch is for a rocket or anything else.''
''Both abductions (of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents) and missile
launches would be a breach of Japanese sovereignty,'' he told reporters in the
evening.
Hamada said the Defense Ministry will make preparations to deal with the
missile test-firing ''in an appropriate manner,'' repeating Tokyo's intention
to intercept a ballistic missile in accordance with the law if it looks set to
hit anywhere on Japanese soil or in Japanese territorial waters.
''We must ready ourselves to do various things that we have thought of if we're
thinking about the nation's security,'' he said, adding that the ministry
should deal with the matter in a ''calm manner.''
North Korea says it is preparing to put a communications satellite into space,
but countries such as Japan say the North may in fact be planning to test-fire
a redesigned long-range Taepodong-2 missile.
Japan, South Korea and the United States have said that even if Pyongyang
launches a satellite, it would violate existing U.N. Security Council
resolutions.
==Kyodo
2009-03-10 21:38:04