Japan deploys missile batteries as N. Korea readies rocket launch

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan has deployed missile batteries in central Tokyo and dispatched destroyers as North Korea makes final preparations for a rocket launch that could take place this week despite global condemnation, AFP reported.

The communist North says it will launch a satellite for peaceful scientific research between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

But the United States and its allies say it is a disguised missile test and that the launch would contravene United Nations sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea's missile programme.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has given the green light to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japan's territory.

Patriot missiles were Saturday deployed at the defence ministry in downtown Tokyo and at two other bases in the region to protect the greater Tokyo area and its population of around 35 million.

The ministry also dispatched three Aegis destroyers carrying interceptor missiles, reportedly to the East China Sea, where it has already deployed Patriot missiles on the southern island chain of Okinawa, beneath the rocket's forecast flight path. China, North Korea's main ally, called for restraint.

Pyongyang's progress on the launch is unclear, though it may have moved the first stage of a long-range rocket on to its launch pad, one report said.

Pyongyang has invited foreign experts and reporters to observe the launch, which it insists is part of peaceful space research. It has not given an exact date, but Kim Il-Sung's birthday was on April 15.

The secretive and impoverished state announced the rocket plans despite agreeing on February 29 to freeze its nuclear and missile programmes as part of a deal under which the United States would deliver badly needed food aid.