North Korea has notified Japan of its plan to launch a rocket carrying a satellite within eight days, before midnight on June 3, it said the Japanese government, reported Kyodo and DPA, quoted by BTA.
The launch window began as early as midnight, and the notification identified three maritime danger zones believed to be the areas where debris from the missile would fall - two west of the Korean Peninsula and the other east of the Philippine Luzon Island, the Japanese Coast Guard reports.
Officials from Japan, the US and South Korea confirmed they would urge North Korea to suspend the plan, as any launch of a projectile using ballistic missile technology would be a violation of UN resolutions. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered relevant ministries and agencies to make maximum efforts to collect and analyze information about the possible satellite launch, according to a government official.
Pyongyang unveiled the satellite launch plan as the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea are expected to meet later Monday in Seoul for the first time since December 2019. Yesterday, Kishida and his South Korean counterpart, President Yun Suk-yeol, agreed to work together to address North Korea's nuclear and missile threats during their bilateral talks in the South Korean capital, Kyodo noted.