“If Japan recklessly ‘intercepts’ the DPRK’s (North Korea’s) satellite for peaceful purposes, the KPA will mercilessly deal deadly blows not only at the already deployed intercepting means but at major targets,” said a statement from the Korean People’s Army, or KPA.
Japan, South Korea and the United States view the North’s plan to launch a communications satellite between April 4-8 as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile, which could in theory reach Alaska or Hawaii.
Tokyo may toughen existing bilateral sanctions by halting all exports to Pyongyang and tightening restrictions on financial transactions, government spokesman Takeo Kawamura said.
The North has begun fueling its rocket in a sign it could launch as early as this weekend, CNN quoted a senior U.S. military official as saying. There was no immediate confirmation.
Japan and the United States have deployed missile-hunting Aegis destroyers to monitor the launch.
Tokyo has also deployed Patriot guided-missile units on land, and says it would try to bring down the rocket if it start falling toward Japanese territory.
Japan was tightlipped Thursday about the latest threat.
“An interception would be made only if the flying object directly threatens the lives and assets of Japanese people,” a Japanese defense ministry spokeswoman said, reading from a prepared statement
The KPA general staff, in a statement on official media, also told the United States “to immediately withdraw its already deployed armed forces if it does not wish to be hurt by the above-said strike.”
Recent satellite photos appear to indicate the North has mounted a satellite atop the missile, U.S. experts say.
But the U.S. and its regional allies say a satellite launch could also test missile technology, and the North would breach a U.N. resolution passed after its 2006 missile launches and underground nuclear test.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday for “stern, unified action” by the international community in response to any launch. The two men met in London on the sidelines of the G20 summit, according to the Seoul presidential office.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing a government source, said the North has moved 12 to 24 MiG-23 fighter jets to the northeast, where the Musudan-ri launch site is located. On Wednesday, Pyongyang threatened to shoot down U.S. spy planes monitoring the site.
Seoul’s defense ministry declined comment.
More than 100 people demonstrated in central Seoul, torching North Korean flags and a miniature replica of a missile. “Punish Kim Jong-Il over missile launch,” they shouted about the North’s leader.
South Korea and Japan have agreed to push for a new U.N. Security Council resolution against North Korea if the launch goes ahead, a senior Seoul official was quoted by Yonhap as saying.
“As far as I know, the U.S. is not opposed to the plan,” the official said.
Pyongyang has said that even a U.N. discussion of its launch – let alone new sanctions – would trigger the breakdown of international nuclear disarmament talks.
U.N. resolutions bar Pyongyang from missile-related activities.
However, the North signed on to international space treaties before its launch. Analysts believe China and Russia would block any new sanctions move on the grounds that the resolutions do not cover satellite launches.
