Tokyo, May 28 (Representative) North Korea has warned Japan of its plans to launch a satellite between May 27 and June 4, the Japan Coast Guard said on Monday. “The launch of the rocket with the satellite is planned from 00:00 on May 27 [15:00 GMT on May 26] to 00:00 on June 4,” the Coast Guard said in a statement. Rocket stages are expected to fall outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the statement read. Later, the NHK broadcaster reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed the ministers concerned to collect information, promptly provide it to the population, and, together with the United States and South Korea, demand that North Korea desist from launching the satellite. At the same time, senior diplomats from Japan, South Korea, and the US held a phone conversation, during which they called the planned launch of the reconnaissance satellite a violation of UN Security Council resolutions since they prohibit North Korea from launching rockets using ballistic missile technology, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Kishida has urged Pyongyang to abandon the satellite launch during the first trilateral summit with South Korea and China in four and a half years.
“North Korea has again warned about the satellite launch. If it conducts the launch, it will be a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions, and we strongly demand that the launch be stopped. Today, I would like to seize the opportunity to strengthen mutual understanding between the three countries on the global situation, primarily around North Korea, and to strengthen the international order,” the Japanese prime minister said in an opening statement. Meanwhile, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the country’s defence ministry and self-defence forces were positioned to shoot down the rocket. “The satellite launch deadline is already in effect, so the defence ministry and the self-defence forces, based on the Defence Minister’s [Minoru Kihara] order to shoot down [the rocket], have taken the right position,” Hayashi told a news conference. On November 21, 2023, Pyongyang successfully launched its Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit aboard the Chollima-1 carrier rocket after two failed launch attempts in May and August. Following the launch, South Korea partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement aimed at reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In response, Pyongyang announced its decision to restore all military measures suspended under the 2018 inter-Korean military accord.