Japan military on alert to destroy any N Korea missile: report

Tokyo

JAPAN'S newly appointed defence minister on Monday ordered the nation's military to be ready to destroy any missile fired by North Korea that threaten the country, local media reported. Tomomi Inada issued the order, public broadcaster NHK said, without mentioning any indication that Pyongyang is preparing to launch such a missile. Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe picked Ms Inada, a close confidante with staunchly nationalist views, as the new defence minister.

NHK said Ms Inada is expected to renew the readiness order every three months so that Tokyo can seamlessly maintain a state of alert. A Japanese defence ministry spokesman declined to confirm the report.