日本将启动导弹防御系统

Japanese Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka says Japan has ordered missile defence systems to be prepared in response to the planned launch of a North Korean long-range rocket next month.

日本国防部长田中直树称，为回应朝鲜下月发射远程火箭的计划，日本已经下令启动导弹防御系统。

The last time North Korea launched a rocket-mounted satellite, the UN imposed sanctions
Reports said the defence systems would be deployed² near the island of Okinawa to shoot down the rocket should it threaten Japanese territory.

North Korea says the rocket will put a satellite into orbit.

But the US and its allies believe the launch is a pretext³（借口，托辞） for a missile test.

'Grave provocation⁴'

Pyongyang said last week it was to mark the 100th birthday of its late Great Leader Kim Il-sung.

The announcement drew widespread criticism that the launch would violate UN Security Council resolutions.

The resolutions were imposed after a similar launch in April 2009. Japan is particularly concerned as the last North Korean rocket was launched over the country.

"I have ordered officials to prepare to deploy¹ the PAC-3 and Aegis⁵ warships," Mr Tanaka said.

South Korea, China and the US have also expressed concern over the planned launch.

"It would be a grave provocation threatening the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and north-east Asia," the South Korean foreign ministry⁶ said in a statement.

Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua said Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun met Pyongyang's ambassador to express Beijing's "worry".

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called North Korea's announcement "highly provocative⁷".