Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has instructed the country’s Self-Defense Forces to be at enhanced readiness over a possible launch of a rocket carrying North Korea’s first military reconnaissance satellite over the Japanese territory, a Japanese news agency reported on Saturday, citing government sources.
Earlier in the week, the North Korean state-run news agency said that the country’s leader Kim Jong-un had ordered the country’s first military reconnaissance satellite, which had been already completed, to be launched on a carrier rocket at the planned date. The news agency provided no details regarding the exact date of the launch.
