Trucks carrying rocket interceptors and control systems arrive at a port in Okinawa, as Japan puts its missile defences on alert.<br/> <br />Japan will deploy radar-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 interceptors in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.<br/> <br />It also plans to position ground-based interceptors on some of its southern islands and in the Tokyo metropolitan area ahead of the North Korea missile launch on 12th-16th of April.<br/> <br />Japan says it will shoot down the rocket only if it appears to be falling towards Japanese territory.<br/> <br />Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta had approved the move.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE DEFENCE MINISTER NAOKI TANAKA:<br/> <br />"We respect the U.S. diplomatic efforts over the issue, but we will maintain our foremost readiness in case the rocket is indeed launched. I think the U.S. Defence Secretary has agreed on our plan when I told him the details over the phone."<br/> <br />Pyongyang said in March that it would use its rocket to launch a weather satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim il-Sung, the country's founding ruler.<br/> <br />But the U.S., Japan and other countries say it is the same as a ballistic missile test and would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.<br/> <br />Simon Hanna, Reuters.
