North Korea notifies Japan about planned satellite launch

Tokyo, May 27 (IANS/DPA) The Japanese government on Monday said that North Korea was preparing to attempt a new satellite launch in the coming days.

The government in Tokyo said it has been notified that Pyongyang intends to launch a satellite into space by June 4.

Tokyo, however, suspects that this will involve the launch of a long-range ballistic missile.

The office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on social media platform X that North Korea would be urged not to launch a missile by countries including the US and South Korea.

According to information from the Japanese government, North Korea intends to designate three maritime danger zones - two located west of the Korean Peninsula and the third east of the Philippine island of Luzon, the Kyodo news agency reported. The three areas are outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Kishida is currently in Seoul for a joint summit with China's Prime Minister Li Qiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

North Korea is prohibited from testing ballistic missiles by UN resolutions. Depending on their design, such missiles can be equipped with one or more nuclear warheads.

The launch by Pyongyang of its first spy satellite in November was celebrated as a success in the state media. At the end-of-year meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party, it was decided to launch three more satellites into space in 2024.

The US and its allies South Korea, Japan and Australia imposed new sanctions on North Korea because of the satellite launch. They accused Pyongyang of using technologies related to its intercontinental ballistic missile programme.

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