Officials dispute Japan's supposed inability to hit N. Korean rocket+

TOKYO, March 24 Kyodo - Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada disputed a claim Tuesday made by a senior government source a day earlier that Japan would be unable to intercept a rocket that North Korea is planning to launch.

''I don't think that will be the case because we have been trying to be well
prepared,'' Hamada said.
At a news conference the same day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said
he is not worried about the country's ability to intercept the projectile,
which Japan and other countries see as cover for a ballistic missile test.
''I don't have any such concern because the government has taken steps to
respond to the matter well,'' Kawamura said, adding that Tokyo has taken every
possible scenario into account to ensure the Japanese people's safety. ''We are
at the final stage of reviewing (options) right now.''
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone was more measured in his
response. ''It's true that (interception) is difficult,'' he told reporters on
the same day. ''We don't know how and where it would be flying over.''
Several lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party also expressed
displeasure at the remark in a meeting Tuesday morning.
In a remark made Monday on condition of anonymity, the senior government source
said, ''You cannot shoot down a pistol bullet with a pistol,'' suggesting that
Japan's antiballistic missile shield may be incapable of intercepting the
rocket.
The source said a Standard Missile-3 interceptor launched from a Maritime
Self-Defense Force destroyer succeeded in intercepting a mock target before
because the MSDF was notified of the launch beforehand.
The rocket, which Pyongyang says it plans to launch between April 4 and 8 to
put a satellite into orbit, is expected to fly over the Tohoku region in
northeastern Japan if it travels as planned.
Its two-stage boosters are expected to fall into the two ''dangers'' areas
North Korea has marked in the Sea of Japan off Akita Prefecture and in the
northern Pacific between Japan and Hawaii.
Japan can intercept a ballistic missile or similar objects, including a
satellite-carrying rocket, based on provisions in the Self-Defense Forces Law
if it is feared to fall onto Japanese soil or waters and inflict damage on
people's lives and property.
The SM-3, which intercepts an incoming missile outside the earth's atmosphere,
forms the upper layer of Japan's missile shield, while the Air Self-Defense
Force's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system, which is supposed to hit missiles
the SM-3 misses, is responsible for the lower layer.
Two MSDF Aegis destroyers have been modified to be fitted with the SM-3. The
MSDF has performed interception tests with the destroyers, with one success and
one failure. The ASDF's PAC-3 succeeded in intercepting a target in a test in
September 2008.
==Kyodo