(LinkAsia: March 23, 2012)
Yul Kwon:
In Japan, the defense minister says he would consider destroying the rocket to protect the country's territory. Japanese broadcaster NHK tells us more.

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NHK World NEWSLINE
Airdate: March 23, 2012

Naoki Tanaka, Japanese Defense Minister:
As we face the North Korean issue, now is an important time to demonstrate the Japan-US alliance.
 
John Roos, US Ambassador to Japan:
Totally agree with that.
 
Reporter:
Tanaka said the international community should unite in pressing North Korea to abandon its launch plan. Ambassador Roos said the North's action is a threat to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Tanaka said he will order the Self-Defense Forces to prepare to intercept any falling debris from the rocket. He added that the defense ministry is considering deploying destroyers equipped with the Aegis Air Defense System off southern islands, such as Ishigaki. He said Patriot PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles could also be deployed.

(Russia Today: 0926 PST, March 1, 2011) The reports of Libya mobilizing its air force against its own people spread quickly around the world. However, Russia's military chiefs say they have been monitoring from space -- and the pictures tell a different story.

 

According to Al Jazeera and BBC, on February 22 the Libyan government inflicted airstrikes on Benghazi -- the country's largest city -- and on the capital Tripoli. However, the Russian military, monitoring the unrest via satellite from the very beginning, says nothing of the sort was going on on the ground.

 

At this point, the Russian military is saying that, as far as they are concerned, the attacks some media were reporting have never occurred. The same sources in Russia's military establishment say they are also monitoring the situation around Libya's oil pumping facilities.

 

 

Was it a missile test or a space launch? Did it fall into the sea or put a satellite into orbit? While most media sources agree that North Korea failed at testing a missile, the North Koreans insist they successfully launched a satellite. The North also launched a propaganda assault inside the country, including patriotic songs supposedly transmitted from orbit and 1950s-style “space age” imagery.

 

SOURCES: Chosun Central Television, North Korea; KBS, South Korea; FCI, Japan; CCTV, China; NHK, Japan; ABC News, U.S.; Al Jazeera English, Qatar.