The office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Pyongyang had informed Japan of the planned launch, and that Kishida had instructed his government to work with the United States, South Korea, and other nations to urge its cancellation, Aljazeera reported.
We “strongly urge North Korea to exercise restraint and refrain from conducting a launch,” Kishida’s office wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Japan Coast Guard said the “satellite rocket launch” would take place between August 24 and 31, with three designated danger areas: the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and waters east of the Philippines’ Luzon island.
In May, Pyongyang launched what it described as its first military reconnaissance satellite but the new “Chollima-1” satellite launch rocket ended in failure. State news agency KCNA said that was because of instability in the engine and fuel system.
Japan, the US, and South Korea condemned the launch as a breach of United Nations resolutions prohibiting the nuclear-armed state from using ballistic missile technology.
RHM/PR