MILITARY ~ Honor, Duty, Country

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NKorea warns Japan against searching for missile debris

by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) April 8, 2009
North Korea warned Japan Wednesday against searching for debris from the communist state's rocket launch, official media reported.

The North's military accused Japan of deploying warships to search for rocket parts and termed this an act of espionage and an "intolerable military provocation."

The first stage of the rocket fired Sunday landed in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) between Japan and Korea and the remaining stages fell in the Pacific.

Japanese media reported Wednesday that Japan's Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the upper house foreign and defence affairs committee the previous day that his ministry would study the possibility of retrieving debris.

"If it is possible to retrieve the debris, I think it is better to retrieve it. We want to study matters including this possibility," Hamada was quoted as saying.

In a statement reported by the Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean military's general staff said the "revolutionary armed forces will not tolerate irrational provocative activities targeting the DPRK (North Korea) by Japanese reactionaries, the century-old arch enemy."

It would "not forgive them if they dare to violate our sovereignty in the slightest."

The general staff called on Japan to "immediately stop its ridiculous military espionage activity" in the name of searching for parts.

An official at the press division of Japan's Defence Ministry told AFP Wednesday: "Our office has no idea if preparations are underway to retrieve the debris.

However, deputy foreign minister Kazuhide Ishikawa was quoted by the Asahi Shimbun as saying Tuesday: "I understand that the Defence Ministry is not considering retrieving it (debris)."

"There is no established interpretation in international law about the legal nature of the retrieval of a fallen object."

"As the object has fallen inside Japan's exclusive economic zone, I think it is permissible under the law of the sea to retrieve it."

The North says its rocket put into orbit a communications satellite which is beaming back patriotic songs.

South Korea, Japan and the US military say there is no sign of the object in space and the launch was in any case a disguised long-range missile test in violation of UN resolutions.

The United States and its allies are seeking a strong UN response to the launch but the Security Council is struggling to agree on what action to take.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/NKorea_warns_Japan_against_searching_for_missile_debris_999.html