FOCUS: Concerns over rocket launch growing in Japan's Tohoku region+

TOKYO, April 2 Kyodo - Local governments in Japan's Tohoku region are exhibiting growing concern over the expected launch of a North Korean rocket as it is likely to pass over Akita and Iwate prefectures.

Tokyo is eyeing the possibility that rocket parts or debris may fall onto Japan
in the event of a malfunction, although it believes the chances of this are
small, after Pyongyang announced its plan to launch a satellite rocket sometime
between Saturday and Wednesday.
In order to notify local governments, the central government has connected all
60 municipalities in the two prefectures to an e-mail system called Em-Net so
they can receive emergency information from the state in about one minute,
according to the Cabinet Secretariat.
But the local governments are fretting over how to deal with the information,
as it is up to each to decide how to respond.
''There is not much we can do as there will be little time until the rocket
passes over us,'' said Shinji Kudo, an official at Akita city government's
disaster prevention division. ''We'd rather prepare thoroughly for falling
(debris) and subsequent damage. We will deal with such eventualities by setting
up evacuation centers while cooperating with medical institutions.''
Kudo said that the city will sound sirens for one minute should it receive
information from the Cabinet Secretariat that something untoward has happened,
but will not inform residents just because the launch has gone ahead.
''We'd like people to understand that damage will not occur under normal
conditions,'' he said.
Other local governments are also calling on residents not to worry, with Akita
Gov. Sukeshiro Terata stressing at a news conference on Monday, ''It is
important to respond in a calm and reassuring manner.''
An Akita city government official at the disaster measures division said most
residents appear calm, adding that the media will probably provide information
faster than local governments.
But some residents have expressed concern.
Yuriko Kodama, 39, a kindergarten teacher in Akita city, said no parents have
voiced worries so far but she is unsure how she should respond. ''Though the
prefecture has told us to 'respond appropriately,' I don't know what to do,''
Kodama said.
Chisato Suzuki, a 25-year-old office worker in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, said,
''It doesn't seem real. We have no idea where (the rocket) will fall in case of
a malfunction, even if it were a satellite.''
Akita city government's Kudo also said that an e-mail from a resident expressed
concern about elementary school students who may be on their way home from
school at the time of the launch.
While North Korea has asserted that it will launch a satellite, Japan, South
Korea and the United States believe it is a cover for the test-firing of a
long-range ballistic missile.
In a bid to intercept the rocket if it appears likely to hit Japanese
territory, Patriot guided-missile units of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force have
been installed at bases in Akita and Iwate.
The units, capable of launching Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, have
been stationed in support of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis
guided-missile destroyers that have been deployed in the Sea of Japan and the
Pacific Ocean ahead of North Korea's planned launch.
Some fishermen who work in the Sea of Japan off Akita Prefecture where the
first stage of the rocket is likely to fall were also worried.
Yutaka Saito, 58, an executive at Akita Prefecture's fisheries cooperative,
said, ''It is troublesome. I wonder if we can have North Korea give up (the
launch) through dialogue among countries.''
While some local government officials point out that recent intense media
reports have caused some people to worry too much, some experts said that the
government's overwrought response may incite people's concern.
''It seems to me that (the government) is playing politics by acting as if it
is resolutely protecting the people, while the SDF clearly intends to use this
development as a big opportunity to make its missile defense 'operational,'''
military journalist Tetsuo Maeda said.
''The government should not hold back in disclosing information to the public
and make efforts to respond calmly,'' Maeda added.
Shuzo Koshino, an Iwate prefectural government official who is in charge of
disaster measures, said the government has not taken sufficient steps to deal
with the situation in the event that the rocket malfunctions and debris falls
on Japan.
''If something falls from the rocket, who will deal with these dangerous
materials? Will it be firefighters or the SDF? It is important for us to know
such things,'' but government institutions have not thrown light on who should
be responsible.
Koshino said that information that residents most want is whether the rocket
has passed safely over Japan, not that the launch has taken place. ''People
want information that provides them with peace of mind,'' he said.