ID :
52610
Sat, 03/28/2009 - 08:28
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/52610
The shortlink copeid
Japan orders N. Korean rocket destruction in event of launch failure
TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo -
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada issued an order to the Self-Defense Forces on
Friday to destroy a North Korean rocket or its debris in the event that its
launch fails and it falls onto Japanese territory.
Hamada issued the order following a government decision to do so earlier in the
day at a meeting of the Security Council of Japan, Japan's top security panel,
chaired by Prime Minister Taro Aso.
The unprecedented move came just a week before Pyongyang says it will put a
satellite into orbit amid suspicion that the launch may be a cover for a
long-range ballistic missile test.
''I suppose that it is unlikely that North Korea's objects would fall on
Japan...but I believe (the government) should take every possible measure to
ensure the safety of the public,'' Aso told reporters, while calling on the
public to react calmly to the situation.
Tokyo is concerned that if the launch fails, the rocket or its debris, such as
its boosters, could fall somewhere in northeastern Japan, over which the rocket
is expected to fly.
''I issued a necessary order to Self-Defense Forces units based on Paragraph 3
of Article 82-2 of the Self-Defense Forces Law to prepare for an event in which
a North Korean projectile falls onto our country in an accident,'' Hamada told
reporters.
''It's important to deal with and eliminate the North Korean projectile should
it threaten the people's security and safety by falling into our airspace,
waters or soil,'' Hamada said, adding that the Defense Ministry and the SDF
would do their best to handle the situation.
Based on the order, Air Self-Defense Force Patriot guided-missile fire units
will be moved by Monday to Akita and Iwate prefectures to prepare for the
possibility of a rocket or its fragments dropping on the area, government
officials said.
Four Patriot fire units will also be deployed soon in and around the capital,
including on the premises of the Defense Ministry headquarters near the
Imperial Palace to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Two Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyers fitted with Standard Missile-3
interceptors will be deployed Saturday in the Sea of Japan to detect and track
the rocket, and, if necessary, intercept it outside the earth's atmosphere, the
officials said.
While mobilizing the SDF, the government also took pains to downplay the
possibility of a rocket dropping onto Japan if it flies as planned, and urged
the Japanese people to remain calm.
''I believe it normally wouldn't fall onto our country's sphere. I call on the
Japanese people to lead their lives and go about their business normally,''
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference on Friday
morning.
The government will be on alert just in case and plans to inform the public as
soon as the rocket is launched, Kawamura said. ''Please pay attention to
information aired on TV and radio.''
Friday's order signified the first response Japan has taken against potential
threats posed by a ballistic missile or similar objects since the country began
building an antiballistic missile shield in 2003.
It remains unclear, however, whether any attempt to hit the rocket or its
fragments will succeed given the difficulty of computing its trajectory,
especially if the projectile is still in its boost stage.
The destruction order was based on a provision in the SDF law, which states
that in a situation where the risk of a ballistic missile or a similar object
flying toward Japan is unclear, an order may be issued to the SDF beforehand to
destroy it in the event that there is a sudden situational change.
The government had initially considered tapping another provision to issue a
destruction order -- which would presuppose a relatively high probability of a
rocket falling onto Japan -- but decided against it over concerns that taking
measures based on the provision may unnecessarily upset North Korea, government
sources said.
Friday's order will be good until April 10, the Defense Ministry said.
On the possibility of a North Korean rocket falling on Japan, the government
says that is most likely to happen when it encounters trouble during its second
boost phase.
''Although it is hard to think that it would happen, we could think of the
possibility that part of the projectile would fall onto our country in a
situation where the combustion of the second-stage booster gets suddenly
interrupted soon after it starts burning,'' Kawamura said in a statement on
Friday.
The rocket's second-stage booster is expected to be ignited over the Sea of
Japan and fall into the northern Pacific more than 2,100 kilometers off Tokyo.
The first-stage booster is expected to fall into the Sea of Japan more than 130
km off the coast of Akita.
North Korea has announced that it will put an experimental communications
satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8, notifying aviation and maritime
organizations of its plan in accordance with international norms.
But Japan, South Korea and the United States have urged North Korea not to go
ahead, saying the launch would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions
banning North Korea from all activities related to its ballistic missile
program.
Japan and its allies see the planned launch as a disguised test-firing of a
Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile because the technology involved in
launching them is the same.
North Korea has warned that attempts by Japan, the United States and other
members of the six-party talks on curbing its nuclear ambitions to impose fresh
sanctions on it would spell the end of the framework.
In North Korea, preparations appear to be well under way, with what is believed
to be a Taepodong-2 missile having been installed on a launch pad at a facility
on the country's east coast, according to a U.S. government official and other
reliable sources.
North Korea launched a Taepodong-1 missile in August 1998, part of which flew
over Japan and into the Pacific. The launch accelerated Japan's move to build a
missile shield based on U.S. concepts.
A Taepodong-2 missile is believed to have a range of more than 6,000 km. Its
test launch in July 2006 apparently ended in failure.
Under Japan's missile shield, the sea-launched SM-3 missile will intercept a
warhead outside the earth's atmosphere. If it misses the target, the
ground-launched Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile will intercept the
payload as it reenters the atmosphere.
==Kyodo
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada issued an order to the Self-Defense Forces on
Friday to destroy a North Korean rocket or its debris in the event that its
launch fails and it falls onto Japanese territory.
Hamada issued the order following a government decision to do so earlier in the
day at a meeting of the Security Council of Japan, Japan's top security panel,
chaired by Prime Minister Taro Aso.
The unprecedented move came just a week before Pyongyang says it will put a
satellite into orbit amid suspicion that the launch may be a cover for a
long-range ballistic missile test.
''I suppose that it is unlikely that North Korea's objects would fall on
Japan...but I believe (the government) should take every possible measure to
ensure the safety of the public,'' Aso told reporters, while calling on the
public to react calmly to the situation.
Tokyo is concerned that if the launch fails, the rocket or its debris, such as
its boosters, could fall somewhere in northeastern Japan, over which the rocket
is expected to fly.
''I issued a necessary order to Self-Defense Forces units based on Paragraph 3
of Article 82-2 of the Self-Defense Forces Law to prepare for an event in which
a North Korean projectile falls onto our country in an accident,'' Hamada told
reporters.
''It's important to deal with and eliminate the North Korean projectile should
it threaten the people's security and safety by falling into our airspace,
waters or soil,'' Hamada said, adding that the Defense Ministry and the SDF
would do their best to handle the situation.
Based on the order, Air Self-Defense Force Patriot guided-missile fire units
will be moved by Monday to Akita and Iwate prefectures to prepare for the
possibility of a rocket or its fragments dropping on the area, government
officials said.
Four Patriot fire units will also be deployed soon in and around the capital,
including on the premises of the Defense Ministry headquarters near the
Imperial Palace to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Two Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyers fitted with Standard Missile-3
interceptors will be deployed Saturday in the Sea of Japan to detect and track
the rocket, and, if necessary, intercept it outside the earth's atmosphere, the
officials said.
While mobilizing the SDF, the government also took pains to downplay the
possibility of a rocket dropping onto Japan if it flies as planned, and urged
the Japanese people to remain calm.
''I believe it normally wouldn't fall onto our country's sphere. I call on the
Japanese people to lead their lives and go about their business normally,''
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference on Friday
morning.
The government will be on alert just in case and plans to inform the public as
soon as the rocket is launched, Kawamura said. ''Please pay attention to
information aired on TV and radio.''
Friday's order signified the first response Japan has taken against potential
threats posed by a ballistic missile or similar objects since the country began
building an antiballistic missile shield in 2003.
It remains unclear, however, whether any attempt to hit the rocket or its
fragments will succeed given the difficulty of computing its trajectory,
especially if the projectile is still in its boost stage.
The destruction order was based on a provision in the SDF law, which states
that in a situation where the risk of a ballistic missile or a similar object
flying toward Japan is unclear, an order may be issued to the SDF beforehand to
destroy it in the event that there is a sudden situational change.
The government had initially considered tapping another provision to issue a
destruction order -- which would presuppose a relatively high probability of a
rocket falling onto Japan -- but decided against it over concerns that taking
measures based on the provision may unnecessarily upset North Korea, government
sources said.
Friday's order will be good until April 10, the Defense Ministry said.
On the possibility of a North Korean rocket falling on Japan, the government
says that is most likely to happen when it encounters trouble during its second
boost phase.
''Although it is hard to think that it would happen, we could think of the
possibility that part of the projectile would fall onto our country in a
situation where the combustion of the second-stage booster gets suddenly
interrupted soon after it starts burning,'' Kawamura said in a statement on
Friday.
The rocket's second-stage booster is expected to be ignited over the Sea of
Japan and fall into the northern Pacific more than 2,100 kilometers off Tokyo.
The first-stage booster is expected to fall into the Sea of Japan more than 130
km off the coast of Akita.
North Korea has announced that it will put an experimental communications
satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8, notifying aviation and maritime
organizations of its plan in accordance with international norms.
But Japan, South Korea and the United States have urged North Korea not to go
ahead, saying the launch would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions
banning North Korea from all activities related to its ballistic missile
program.
Japan and its allies see the planned launch as a disguised test-firing of a
Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile because the technology involved in
launching them is the same.
North Korea has warned that attempts by Japan, the United States and other
members of the six-party talks on curbing its nuclear ambitions to impose fresh
sanctions on it would spell the end of the framework.
In North Korea, preparations appear to be well under way, with what is believed
to be a Taepodong-2 missile having been installed on a launch pad at a facility
on the country's east coast, according to a U.S. government official and other
reliable sources.
North Korea launched a Taepodong-1 missile in August 1998, part of which flew
over Japan and into the Pacific. The launch accelerated Japan's move to build a
missile shield based on U.S. concepts.
A Taepodong-2 missile is believed to have a range of more than 6,000 km. Its
test launch in July 2006 apparently ended in failure.
Under Japan's missile shield, the sea-launched SM-3 missile will intercept a
warhead outside the earth's atmosphere. If it misses the target, the
ground-launched Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile will intercept the
payload as it reenters the atmosphere.
==Kyodo
