Tokyo: The Japanese government held a briefing session Tuesday for local government officials to prepare for North Korea’s possible launch of a rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite.

The session, held in Tokyo, was attended by prefectural government officials in charge of disaster management, and also joined online by officials from municipalities in Okinawa Prefecture, where the Self-Defense Forces are making preparations to shoot down such a projectile if it is likely to fall within the country’s territory.

At the beginning of the session, Takashi Azuma, counsellor at the Cabinet Secretariat, referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s reported order for such a satellite launch and called on participants to “make every possible effort to respond to it.”

The Cabinet Secretariat explained procedures for providing launch information to local governments through Japan’s J-Alert system and Em-Net emergency information network.

JIJI Press