The Japanese Defense Ministry plans to deploy destroyers closer to North Korea to improve its ability to detect a North Korean rocket launch, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
The move comes after the ministry failed to obtain information in a timely fashion on the North's rocket launch in April.
The plan also calls for Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers equipped with the Aegis air defense system to use information from U.S. early-warning satellites and enhance cooperation with U.S. Aegis-equipped frigates, the sources said.
The ministry hopes to compile a report in early June covering the deployment of Self-Defense Forces units, intra-government communications, cooperation with relevant local governments and the missile defense system.
In response to North Korea's warning issued in March of an impending rocket launch, the ministry deployed three Aegis-equipped MSDF destroyers in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, as well as missile-intercepting units in the Tokyo metropolitan area and on islands in southwestern Japan.
While the North Korean rocket launch, widely regarded as a ballistic missile test, ended in failure, the Japanese government was unable to get information on the launch immediately and announce it had taken place.
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