Japan's DM orders to prepare for N Korea rocket launch

Japan's Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka has ordered the Self-Defense Forces to prepare for North Korea's planned rocket launch. North Korea has announced that it will launch a rocket carrying a satellite between April 12th and 16th. Part of the rocket is expected to fly over Japan's southern island chain of Sakishima, located southwest of Okinawa. Japan considers the rocket to be a long-range ballistic missile, according to Japan's (NHK WORLD) website. In a meeting of senior defense officials on Tuesday, Japan's Defense Minister issued an order to have the Self-Defense Forces ready to intercept debris from the rocket, if anything appears to fall onto Japanese territory. Tanaka said that he expects the Japanese Defense Ministry and the SDF to be fully prepared for the launch in order to protect the country and its people. Following the order, the SDF is to prepare for the deployment of PAC-3 surface-to-air interceptor missiles to the southern islands of Ishigaki, Miyako, Okinawa's main island and the Tokyo metropolitan area. The SDF will also deploy Aegis destroyers equipped with SM-3 interceptor missiles in waters around Okinawa. The Japanese government will hold a Security Council meeting on Friday with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and other ministers attending to formalize the shoot-down authorization.