Japan Readies Response to Pyongyang's Launch

TOKYO—North Korea's planned rocket launch is giving Japan's military an unexpected opportunity to deploy its ballistic-missile defense forces in the country's southern islands—the first time in the area that has been a focus of tension with China.

North Korea said last month it plans to launch an Unha-3 rocket to put a satellite into space between April 12 and 16. Japan, South Korea and the U.S. consider the move cover for a ballistic-missile test in violation of U.N. resolutions.

Japan has seen two North Korean missiles fly over its northern region, in August 1998 and April 2009. Japan deployed ballistic-missile defenses in the latter case.

This time, North Korea says it will launch in a southerly, not an easterly, direction. That means the rocket is expected to pass high over Okinawan islands in the East China Sea, an area that has become a security concern for Tokyo amid disputes with China and worries over that country's increasing military profile.       Full Read