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Japan warns DPRK against new missile launch

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-02 15:49

TOKYO -- Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone warned the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday against its possible long-range ballistic missile launch.

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"If Pyongyang launches (such a missile), it would be a clear violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution," Nakasone said. "It would be natural for the international community to take a unified and strong response."

South Korean media on Monday reported Pyongyang has shifted its most advanced long-range missile to a new west coast launch site and could fire the missile as early as mid-June.  

Japan is making efforts in seeking for the U.N. Security Council to adopt a powerful resolution which includes additional sanctions on the DPRK.

The Japanese government approved on Tuesday plans to develop a satellite early warning system for missile launches, eyeing the information on Pyongyang's missile launch.

Japan dropped a decades-old ban on military use of space, blaming the ban had hindered its space technology development.