Japan on alert over North Korea’s plan to launch satellite

Tension in Eastern Asia is about to boil over following Japan’s decision to put its military on alert following North Korea’s plan to launch a satellite which is considered as a long-range missile test in the region.

Feathers are already being ruffled with the proposed move by North Korea with South Korea warning that Pyongyang would pay a “severe price” if it went ahead with the move, while China has also raised concerns and called on the regime led by Kim Jung-un to exercise restraint.

Read also: We have hydrogen bomb- North Korea

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan will shoot down the missile if it crosses into its airspace while condemning North Korea’s proposed move and calling the plan a “serious provocation”.

The government of South Korea in a statement made in Seoul said: “North Korea’s notice of the plan to launch a long-range missile, coming at a time when there is a discussion for Security Council sanctions on its fourth nuclear test, is a direct challenge to the international community.

“We strongly warn that the North will pay a severe price …if it goes ahead with the long-range missile launch plan.”

John Kirby, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said the UN needed to “send the North Koreans a swift, firm message”.

Not mindful of the reaction of its neighbouring countries and the U.S. over its planned satellite launch, Pyongyang has said it has a sovereign right to pursue a space programme by launching rockets.

The last time North Korea launched a long-range rocket was in December 2012 when it sent a communications satellite into space.

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