Japan has deployed missile batteries in Tokyo and dispatched destroyers as North Korea makes final preparations for a rocket launch that could take place this week despite fierce condemnation from across the globe. Pyongyang says it will launch a satellite for peaceful scientific research between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary on April 15 of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung. But the United States and its allies say it is a disguised missile test and that the launch would contravene UN sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea’s missile programme. Beijing, North Korea’s main ally, has also expressed concern and called for restraint. “China is concerned and worried about the latest development on the Korean peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Saturday, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Yang was Sunday holding a meeting on regional security with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts.
A successful satellite launch would burnish the image of young Kim Jong-Un as he seeks to establish his credentials as a strong leader after taking over from his father and longtime ruler, Kim Jong-Il, who died last December.
