U.S. Aegis destroyer enters Aomori ahead of N. Korean rocket launch

AOMORI, Japan, March 23 Kyodo - The U.S. Navy's Aegis guided missile destroyer deployed in Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, made a port call Monday in Aomori, as North Korea prepares
to launch a rocket which some countries suspect to be a cover for a ballistic missile test.

The U.S. military has said the USS Stethem's call at the port in northeastern
Japan is to provide crew members with rest and allow them to forge friendships
with local communities. But the ship movement at this time has fueled
speculation that it may be assigned to monitor North Korea's launch-related
activities.
The 8,800-ton destroyer, permanently forward-deployed to Yokosuka as part of
the U.S. 7th Fleet operating forces, is expected to leave the Aomori port on
Thursday.
The Stethem has been modified to detect and track ballistic missiles with its
radar and shoot them down with its Standard Missile-3 interceptor.
The Aomori prefectural government had been notified in late February of a port
call by the USS John S. McCain, another Aegis guided missile destroyer of the
7th Fleet, on the basis of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, but the
ship was switched to the Stethem last Friday, prefectural officials said.
North Korea has notified aviation and maritime agencies of its plan to launch a
satellite between April 4 and 8 by marking ''danger'' areas in the Sea of Japan
just off neighboring Akita Prefecture and the northern Pacific between Japan
and Hawaii.