Japan on Alert After Threat of Potential N. Korean Missile Launch

Japan's military has been put on alert, and ordered to prepare to intercept a possible North Korean missile, a government source told Japan's Kyodo News.

Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani gave the order amid signs that Pyongyang may go ahead with a ballistic missile launch.

Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air guided interceptors in central Tokyo were readied as a response to Nakatani's order, and surveillance activities were also stepped up.

A separate government source today told Kyodo News that the Japanese have received indications that Pyongyang is preparing to launch a ballistic missile, possibly an intermediate-range Musudan missile, in the eastern part of North Korea facing the Sea of Japan.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously in favor of sanctioning North Korea in March after a resolution drafted by the United States and China, which is considered to be an ally of the North Korean government.

"Virtually all of [North Korea's] resources are channeled into its reckless and relentless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told the council after the vote.