March 30th, 2012
01:09 AM ET

Japan says it will shoot down N. Korea rocket over territory

Japan will shoot down any part of the long-range rocket that North Korea plans to launch next month that enters its territory, the Japanese defense minister, Naoki Tanaka, said Friday.

Speaking at a news conference, Tanaka said he had issued the official order after instructing the Japanese military earlier in the week to prepare the country's missile defense shield against the planned rocket launch.

North Korea announced earlier this month that it would launch a rocket carrying a satellite between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the Communist state.

Pyongyang says the operation is for "peaceful purposes," but Japan, the United States and South Korea see the launch as a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test.

Firing the long-range rocket would breach U.N. Security Council resolutions, and Washington has suspended a recent deal to provide food aid to North Korea as a result.

FULL STORY

Filed under: World
soundoff (30 Responses)
  1. High Hopes

    Ba-Da-Boom!

    And no food for you...

    March 30, 2012 at 11:28 am | Report abuse |
    • Len

      Iran better take notes... Israel is lying in the gap waiting on them to act up !!! Just step on the crack in the sidwalk.. sneeze.. say a cross word,,, anything... & that but is history !!!

      March 31, 2012 at 4:02 pm | Report abuse |
  2. ron

    Lol @ high hopes, it's no soup for you! ( jerry seinfeld episode)

    March 30, 2012 at 12:33 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      The Soup Nazi! lol....

      March 30, 2012 at 2:35 pm | Report abuse |
  3. bobcat (in a hat) ©

    No "soup" for you, but peanut butter and jelly samitches for "everyone".

    March 30, 2012 at 3:16 pm | Report abuse |
  4. LOL A

    – So much for Obama's Deal he attempted with much praise from all the liberal weinies in here. What a Farce!!

    March 30, 2012 at 3:49 pm | Report abuse |
    • pork OFF

      Uh huh. So they kill us while they starve. Right. Make you feel better there, big boy, making it a partisan issue? Dummy.

      March 30, 2012 at 4:19 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Sofa King

    Pork the one you love

    March 30, 2012 at 4:38 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      Pork the one you're with.

      March 30, 2012 at 4:47 pm | Report abuse |
  6. High Hopes

    LoL

    😀

    They're communists who want food from us while they test nuclear missiles to see how close they can come to hitting us... and I'm not talking about this latest concoction they've come up with.

    Let the other Communists feed them. I see nothing wrong in Obama's reaction to their latest show of aggression... it's been par for the course up to now. Why should today be any different

    March 30, 2012 at 4:49 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      @High Hopes:
      This waltz has been going on for years, under different Presidents.
      It goes to show that the apple doesn't fall from the tree.

      Same as it ever was.

      March 30, 2012 at 4:56 pm | Report abuse |
  7. - HELLO KITTY

    ... Send it Up !! I'm ready with my handy dandy rocket launcher!!

    April 1, 2012 at 3:18 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Boom Boom

    well.here go.s again...one countries trade secrets..is another rocket..,N Korea...hold the ketchep.your gonna need fries with that burger...He he

    April 2, 2012 at 1:36 pm | Report abuse |
1 2
« Back to main