TOKYO: Japan ordered its military on Saturday to prepare to shoot down a North Korean ballistic missile after Pyongyang said this week that it was ready to launch its first military spy satellite.
Placing the satellite into orbit would require a long-range projectile, which North Korea is banned from launching as the United Nations views such exercises as tests of ballistic missile technology.
On Saturday Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the country’s Self-Defense Forces “there is a possibility of ordering destructive measures against ballistic missiles and others”, according to a statement from the ministry.
