Japan orders North Korean rocket destruction in event of launch failure

TOKYO-Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada(picture left) issued an order to the Self-Defense Forces on Friday to destroy debris from a North Korean rocket in the event that its launch fails and fragments fall onto Japanese territory.Hamada issued the order following a government decision to do so earlier in the day at a meeting of the Security Council of Japan, Japan's top security panel, chaired by Prime Minister Taro Aso.The unprecedented move came just a week before Pyongyang says it will put a satellite into orbit amid suspicion that the launch may be a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test.Tokyo is concerned that if the launch fails, rocket debris, such as its boosters, may fall somewhere in northeastern Japan, over which the rocket is expected to fly.Based on the order, Air Self-Defense Force Patriot guided-missile fire units will be moved to Akita and Iwate prefectures to prepare for the possibility of rocket fragments dropping onto the area, government officials said.Two Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyers fitted with Standard Missile-3 interceptors are also expected to be deployed in the Sea of Japan to detect and track the rocket, and, if necessary, intercept it outside the earth's atmosphere.Friday's order signified the first response Japan has taken against threats posed by a ballistic missile or similar objects since the country began building an antiballistic missile shield in 2003.It remains unclear, however, whether any attempt to hit a rocket or its debris will succeed given the enormous difficulty of computing its trajectory, especially if the projectile is still in its boost stage.The order was based on a provision in the Self-Defense Forces Law, which states that in a situation where the risk of a ballistic missile or a similar object flying toward Japan is unclear, an order may be issued to the SDF beforehand to destroy it in the event that there is a sudden situational change.The government had initially considered tapping another provision to issue a destruction order-which would presuppose a relatively high probability of a rocket falling onto Japan-but decided against it over concerns that taking measures based on the provision may unnecessarily upset North Korea, government sources said.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97621O80&show_article=1&catnum=0
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