South Korea and Japan have warned North Korea of negative consequences if it continues with plans to launch a long-range ballistic missile.
The Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered its armed forces to shoot down any potential North Korean rocket that violates its airspace and threatens national security.
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Japanese Defence minister Gen Nakatani was quoted by media sources as saying: "We have defenses ready to deal with all threats, but in view of the announcement I have put the Self Defense Force’s Aegis destroyers and our PAC-3 units on alert, and issued an order to shoot down any ballistic missile threat."
The move comes after North Korea informed the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO) of a planned earth observation satellite launch, scheduled to be held between 8 and 25 February.
Meanwhile, the US, Japan and South Korea have accused North Korea of conducting a ballistic-missile launch that violates the UN protocol.
South Korean senior security official Cho Tae-yong was quoted by voanews as saying: "The North will pay a severe price if it goes ahead with the long-range missile launch plan, which is a threat to peace not only in the Korean peninsula, but also this region and around the world.
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By GlobalDataThe countries have requested a strong UN resolution against North Korea.
On 6 January, North Korea claimed to have conducted its fourth submarine missile test.
