North Korea notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite-carrying rocket in a new nine-day window, the Japanese government said Tuesday, following two failures to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit earlier this year.
The launch window will start at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and close at 11:59 pm on Nov. 30, according to the Japan Coast Guard.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told his government to attempt to talk Pyongyang into scrapping the plan in cooperation with the United States and South Korea, according to his office.
"If (North Korea) uses ballistic missile technology, that will constitute a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions even if it is aimed at launching a satellite," Kishida told reporters.
Any activities by North Korea using ballistic missile technology, including attempting to send a satellite to space with a rocket, have been prohibited under the resolutions.
The prime minister said Japan will put maximum effort into gathering and analyzing information about the satellite launch.
The Japan Coast Guard said that the notice designated three maritime danger zones believed to be the areas where rocket debris will fall -- two west of the Korean Peninsula and the other to the east of the Philippines' island of Luzon.
Hiroyuki Namazu, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, held phone talks with Jung Pak, acting U.S. special envoy for North Korea, and Kim Gunn, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs.
The three reaffirmed their countries will maintain close trilateral cooperation and will continue to demand that the North abandons the launch, according to the Japanese ministry.
After twice failing to launch a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit in May and August, North Korea announced a plan to launch another one in October but did not do so.
On Sunday, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won Sik told a TV program that North Korea could launch a military reconnaissance satellite by the end of November.
In Tokyo on Tuesday, Kishida told relevant government ministries and agencies to fully prepare for a possible satellite launch, according to the prime minister's office.
Since a similar announcement was made by North Korea in May, Japan's government has maintained an order for the Self-Defense Forces to destroy any projectile that falls within the country's territory with ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles and Aegis-equipped destroyers.
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