North Korea announces launch of a ‘satellite’ sometime between May 27 and June 4; Japan calls for the launch to be suspended

The government said Monday it has received a report from North Korea with plans to launch a “satellite” rocket sometime between midnight Sunday and midnight June 3.

In November last year, North Korea informed the Japanese government of similar plans, and a launch using ballistic missile technology followed.

As with that launch, the upcoming projectile will likely enter Okinawa Prefecture’s airspace. The Japanese Coast Guard accordingly issued a navigation warning, advising Japanese and foreign ships to be alert.

North Korea has designated three zones where debris from the missile could fall: two maritime areas in the Yellow Sea and one in the Pacific Ocean east of Luzon, Philippines.

All areas are outside Japan’s exclusive economic zones.

North Korean authorities notified the Japanese coast guard of the launch via email shortly after midnight Sunday, after the start of the designated period for the launch.

Before dawn on Monday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida relayed three points to the relevant ministries and agencies: (1) the government will make every effort to collect and analyze information and make appropriate information available to the public; (2) the Administration will work with the United States, South Korea, and other concerned countries to vigorously demand that North Korea abort the launch; and (3) the government will take all possible measures in the event of an unpredictable development.

High-level diplomatic authorities in Japan, the United States and South Korea held a telephone discussion and shared the view that Pyongyang’s planned launch clearly violates a UN Security Council resolution banning North Korea from carrying out launches using ballistic missile technology.

When North Korea announced last May that it would fire a missile it claimed was intended to launch a satellite, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada issued a shooting order to the Self-Defense Forces. The order remains in effect.

Accordingly, at least one of the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis-equipped destroyers has been deployed indefinitely in the Sea of ​​Japan with Standard Missile 3 (SM3) interceptor missiles.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference Monday morning that the government had submitted a request to North Korea to abort the launch of the satellite through diplomatic channels in Beijing.

Hayashi criticized Pyongyang, saying: “If North Korea forcibly carries out a launch using missile technology, it will be a serious, provocative action that threatens Japan’s national security.”