TOKYO: The Japanese government on Wednesday criticized North Korea’s plan to launch a military spy satellite.

The launch “poses a threat to the peace and safety of our country and the international community and is utterly unacceptable,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference.

“If (North Korea) goes ahead with the launch using ballistic missile technology, even under the name of a satellite, it clearly violates U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he said.

Japan remains committed to working together with the United States and South Korea to denuclearize North Korea, Matsuno said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Tuesday ordered final preparations to launch a military reconnaissance satellite, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday.

Matsuno said that the Group of Seven major democracies will send a strong warning against any use of nuclear weapons at a summit in the western Japan city of Hiroshima next month.

JIJI Press