The Land without Muslims
THE JEWISH PRESS: The Japanese do not feel the need to apologize to Muslims for the negative way in which they relate to Islam.

There are countries in the world, mainly in Europe, that are presently undergoing significant cultural transformations as a result of Muslim immigration. France, Germany, Belgium and Holland are interesting examples of cases where immigration from Muslim countries, together with the Muslims’ high fertility rate, effects [sic] every area of life.

It is interesting to know that there is a country in the world whose official and public approach to the Muslim matter is totally different. This country is Japan. This country keeps a very low profile on all levels regarding the Muslim matter: On the diplomatic level, senior political figures from Islamic countries almost never visit Japan, and Japanese leaders rarely visit Muslim countries. The relations with Muslim countries are based on concerns such as oil and gas, which Japan imports from some Muslim countries. The official policy of Japan is not to give citizenship to Muslims who come to Japan, and even permits for permanent residency are given sparingly to Muslims.

Japan forbids exhorting people to adopt the religion of Islam (Dawah), and any Muslim who actively encourages conversion to Islam is seen as proselytizing to a foreign and undesirable culture. Few academic institutions teach the Arabic language. It is very difficult to import books of the Qur’an to Japan, and Muslims who come to Japan, are usually employees of foreign companies. In Japan there are very few mosques. The official policy of the Japanese authorities is to make every effort not to allow entry to Muslims, even if they are physicians, engineers and managers sent by foreign companies that are active in the region. Japanese society expects Muslim men to pray at home.

Japanese companies seeking foreign workers specifically note that they are not interested in Muslim workers. And any Muslim who does manage to enter Japan will find it very difficult to rent an apartment. Anywhere a Muslim lives, the neighbors become uneasy. Japan forbids the establishment of Islamic organizations, so setting up Islamic institutions such as mosques and schools is almost impossible. In Tokyo there is only one imam.

In contrast with what is happening in Europe, very few Japanese are drawn to Islam. If a Japanese woman marries a Muslim, she will be considered an outcast by her social and familial environment. There is no application of Shari’a law in Japan. There is some food in Japan that is halal, kosher according to Islamic law, but it is not easy to find it in the supermarket. » | Dr. Mordechai Kedar | Sunday, May 19, 2013

Japan Earthquake: 7.4 Magnitude Quake Hits Devastated Region
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Japan has been hit by a strong earthquake, with emergency workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant ordered to evacuate.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which operates Fukushima, says it is checking on the situation, but efforts to assess any damage were complicated by the evacuation.

"After the earthquake and the tsunami warning, all the workers evacuated to a safe area. The company confirmed all the workers have cleared the plant safely," a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power said.

"We don't know if there is any impact to the facilities as all the workers have cleared the area."

The Japan meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for a wave of up to 6 feet (two metres) after the magnitude-7.4 aftershock. The warning, which was later cancelled, was issued for a coastal area already torn apart by last month's tsunami, which is believed to have killed some 25,000 people and has sparked an ongoing crisis at a nuclear power plant.

"Please do not hesitate to leave for higher ground, nor try to return to the coast line. Please do not try to check the status of the coastline," broadcaster NHK said repeatedly. » | Barney Henderson | Thursday, April 07, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Japan hit by earthquake and tsunami warning: Alert for wave of up to two metres issued for area devastated by last month's quake » | James Meikle | Thursday, April 07, 2011



REUTERS: Major aftershock shakes Japan's ruined coast: A major earthquake shook the northeast of Japan late on Thursday, and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast already devastated by last month's massive quake and tsunami that crippled a nuclear power plant. » | Kiyoshi Takenaka and Yoko Nishikawa | TOKYO | Thursday, April 07, 2011

REUTERS FRANCE: Alerte au tsunami levée dans le nord-est du Japon : TOKYO - Les alertes au tsunami émises pour les côtes nord-est du Japon ont été levées, rapporte vendredi matin (heure japonaise) la chaîne de télévision publique NHK. » | © Reuters | Jeudi 07 Avril 2011

REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Katastrophenregion in Japan erneut von Beben erschüttert: Tokio - Knapp vier Wochen nach dem schweren Erdbeben in Japan ist das Katastrophengebiet am Donnerstag erneut von heftigen Erdstößen erschüttert worden. » | © Reuters | Donnerstag, 07. April 2011

Outrage in Washington Over Obama's Japan Bow
U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo November 14, 2009. Photo: Canada.com
CANADA.COM: WASHINGTON - News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the U.S. leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.

Obama on Monday was in China, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But Washington's punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the U.S. president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito.

Political talk shows have played and replayed the moment from the second day of Obama's week-long Asia tour, which set the blogosphere on fire and chat show tongues wagging.

"I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one," said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama.

Another conservative voice, Bill Bennett, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it."

"We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States -- is just another thing," said Bennett.

Some conservative critics juxtaposed the image of Obama with one of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, who greeted the emperor in 2007 with a firm handshake but no bow.

"I'll bet if you look at pictures of world leaders over 20 years meeting the emperor in Japan, they don't bow," Kristol said.

Some said the gesture was particularly grating coming after Obama's bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a G20 meeting in April. >>> Stephanie Griffiths, AFP | Monday, November 16, 2009

Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito

A Princess Is Set to Be Wed. But It’s No Fairy Tale.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Princess Mako of Japan will forgo the trappings of royal nuptials when she marries her college boyfriend, a commoner, after a long and arduous engagement.

Princess Mako of Japan is set to marry her fiancé, a commoner named Kei Komuro, on Oct. 26. | Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
TOKYO — Anyone who dreams of being a princess should probably have a chat with Princess Mako of Japan.

On Friday, the agency that manages the affairs of Japan’s royal family announced that the princess, the 29-year-old niece of Emperor Naruhito, would marry her fiancé, a commoner named Kei Komuro, on Oct. 26.

It’s a long time coming. The couple, who first met in college, have been engaged since 2017 — but getting to the chapel has meant running a bruising gauntlet of media scrutiny and savage public commentary on Mr. Komuro’s fitness to be the spouse of an imperial daughter.

The pressure on the couple has been so intense that the princess has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, reported.

No Horse, No Carriage

If you’re expecting pomp and circumstance, prepare to be disappointed. There will be no royal wedding. Instead, Princess Mako intends to renounce her royal heritage and settle into a normal life in New York, where Mr. Komuro, 29, works in a law office after studying at Fordham. » | Ben Dooley | Friday, October 1, 2021

Japan Urges Europe to Speak Out against China’s Military Expansion

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: in the first piece in a new Guardian series on China and tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Japan’s defence minister says the international community must bolster deterrence efforts against Beijing’s military

Japan's defence minister, Nobuo Kishi, said China was ‘attempting to use its power to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China Seas’. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Japan has urged European countries to speak out against China’s aggression, warning that the international community must bolster deterrence efforts against Beijing’s military and territorial expansion amid a growing risk of a hot conflict.

In an interview with the Guardian, Japan’s defence minister, Nobuo Kishi, said China had become increasingly powerful politically, economically and militarily and was “attempting to use its power to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China Seas”, which are crucial to global shipping and include waters and islands claimed by several other nations.

Tokyo had “strong concerns in regards to the safety and security of not only our own country and the region but for the global community”, Kishi warned. “China is strengthening its military power both in terms of quantity and quality, and rapidly improving its operational capability,” he said.

Kishi’s comments are a strong signal of the rising international concern over China’s military ambitions in disputed regions like the South and East China Sea, the Indian border, and in particular Taiwan. His remarks were echoed by senior figures on the island, with Taiwan’s former head of navy and deputy defence minister also warning that more deterrence was needed.

With China ratcheting up military activity in the region, experts and global military figures have also warned that small confrontations or maritime accidents could quickly escalate into a full-blown conflict. » | Helen Davidson in Taipei | Monday, September 20, 2021

Breaking News! Japan Earthquake: Fukushima Nuclear Plant Evacuated Following Aftershock
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A magnitude 7.1 aftershock has rattled Japan on the one-month anniversary of the magnitude 9 earthquake that spawned a deadly tsunami.

Authorities issued a warning for a three feet high tsunami after today's earthquake. The quake's epicentre was in Fukushima prefecture.

Workers battling to contain a crisis at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant were ordered to evacuate after the powerful aftershock, operator TEPCO said.

"The company ordered workers to withdraw and stay in a quake-proof building," a spokesman for the operator said. "We don't know many workers were involved."

People at a large electronics store in central Sendai in Miyagi prefecture screamed and ran outside, though the shaking made it hard to move around. Mothers grabbed their children, and windows shook.

The news comes four days after northern Japan was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake with an epicentre 25 miles under water near Sendai, a city devastated by the tsunami on March 11. » | Monday, April 11, 2011

THE AUSTRALIAN: Strong earthquake rocks Japan, tsunami alert issued for Pacific: JAPAN has issued a tsunami alert after a strong quake struck the east and northeast of the country, one month after the devastating March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster. » | Staff writers | News Core | Monday, April 11, 2011

Japan Nuclear Crisis Escalates
THE GUARDIAN: EU expert says Fukushima is out of control as UK and France advise their citizens to leave Tokyo because of radiation fears

International concern that Japan has lost control over the nuclear crisis is escalating as Britain, France and other countries advised their citizens to "consider" leaving Tokyo because of heightened radiation levels.

Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he would visit the Japanese capital to gather information about the "very serious" situation at the Fukushima plant.

Conflicting reports from the damaged nuclear plant have deepened alarm over Japan's management of the crisis, leading to charges that the authorities are actually making the situation worse.

Gregory Jaczko, who heads the US nuclear regulator, said Japan had failed to order a big enough evacuation. He told Congress the public should get at least 50 miles away from the stricken plant. The Japanese cleared a radius of 12 miles.

He raised further fears by saying that all the water had evaporated from one of the spent fuel pools at the nuclear plant, so there was nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter.

Jaczko said officials believe radiation levels are extremely high, which could affect workers' ability to stop temperatures rising.

The EU's energy chief, Günther Oettinger, told the European parliament the situation was out of control. "We are somewhere between a disaster and a major disaster," he said. "There could be further catastrophic events, which could pose a threat to the lives of people on the island." He said it was impossible to "exclude the worst", adding: "There is talk of an apocalypse and I think the word is particularly well chosen." » | Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, and Miriam Elder in Moscow | Thursday, March 17, 2011

Japan Emergency Appeal: Make a donation now »

North Korea Fires Missile Over Japan in Major Escalation

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The missile flew about 2,800 miles, the longest distance ever traveled by a North Korean missile, officials in Tokyo and Seoul said.


North Korea fired a medium-range missile over Japan for the first time in five years. It landed in the Pacific Ocean 22 minutes after the launch. | Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA, via Shutterstock
SEOUL — North Korea on Tuesday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, prompting a rare warning by the Japanese government for residents in two northern prefectures to seek shelter.

The launch represented a major escalation by North Korea, which has conducted a flurry of missile tests in recent days as the United States held military drills in the region with South Korea and Japan. By launching a missile over Japan and toward the Pacific, North Korea heightened regional concerns over its growing nuclear capabilities, and raised the stakes in stalled diplomatic talks with Washington. » | Choe Sang-Hun and Motoko Rich | Monday, October 3, 2022

Typhoon Roke Further Ravages Japan, Still Reeling from Tsunami

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Six months after a deadly earthquake and tsunami, Japan has weathered yet another natural disaster in the form of Typhoon Roke, which pummelled the country with heavy rains and driving winds.

When the worst of it was over, the country seemed to utter a collective sigh of relief, a curious reaction given the typhoon’s devastating toll: Evacuation advisories were sent to more than a million people on the main island of Honshu; 200,000 households were without electricity in central Japan; at least 13 people were missing or dead.

After a ruthless year that has shaken Japan to its core, its people seemed intent on counting small blessings. The only damage wrought to the battered Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant, for instance, was a broken security camera.

Still, the stoic dignity and resilience of Japanese society that has won admiration from around the world is being tested once again by the latest typhoon, the second to strike Japan in the past month. » | Sonia Verma | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Japan’s Death Penalty Effectively Scrapped with Arrival of Keiko Chiba
TIMES ONLINE: Capital punishment has been unofficially scrapped in Japan with the appointment of a left-wing justice minister who is an outspoken opponent of the country’s controversial system of secret executions.

Keiko Chiba, 61, a lawyer and former member of the Japan Socialist Party, has the final say in signing execution orders for the country’s 102 death-row inmates. Although she has declined to say explicitly whether or not she will authorise them, her 20-year record as an active death penalty abolitionist means that hangings will be put on hold after surging in the past three years.

“A moratorium is important, but also important is a public debate, and she has called for that too,” said Makoto Teranaka, executive director of Amnesty International Japan.

Japan is the only industrialised democracy, apart from the United States, to maintain capital punishment. Campaigners opposed to the death penalty also say that it is carried out in a manner designed to avoid public scrutiny.

Once final appeals have been exhausted, death-row inmates can meet only their lawyers and immediate family members. Hangings are usually carried out during parliamentary holidays to prevent the subject from being raised in parliament. The condemned prisoner is told of his imminent execution only a few hours before it is carried out. His family are informed afterwards, when they are invited to collect his remains. >>> Richard Lloyd Parry | Saturday, September 19, 2009

Al Jazeera's Metereologist Explains Japan Quake
Steff Gaulter gives insights on why Japan is prone to earthquakes

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN: Massive quake unleashes tsunami on Japan: TOKYO - One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded hit Japan Friday, unleashing a 10-metre high tsunami that tossed ships inland and sparked fears that destructive waves could hit across the Pacific Ocean. >>> AFP | Friday, March 11, 2011

Related >>>

Japan Earthquake: Emperor Akihito's Exceptional Speech
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Minutes before Emperor Akihito made his first-ever television address to his people, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK instructed its editors to cut into the speech if important news on the unfolding nuclear crisis broke.

In a country where the Emperor is treated with a reverence verging on the worshipful, both the public speech and the orders to show discourtesy to it if need be illustrate just how deep the cultural impact of Japan's earthquake and tsunami has been.

Dressed in a dark suit, and seated against a backdrop designed to evoke the appearance of a traditional paper screens, Emperor Akihito spoke in mannered but modern Japanese – not the formal courtly language which is incomprehensible to many of the country’s residents.

He expressed hope that the nuclear crisis would be resolved, and that lives could be saved. “I hope things will take a turn for the better,” Japan’s monarch said.

Akihito’s nuclear-crisis speech has a grim historical precedent. In 1945, it fell to his father, Hirohito, to announce to Japan’s people its surrender to the allies. He attributed the surrender, among other things, to “a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives.”

The Emperor was referring to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed up to 246,000 people, the dawn of the nuclear age. (+ video) » | Praveen Swami, Diplomatic Editor | Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Warning Also to Americans! Israel Calls on Citizens to Leave Japan
YNET NEWS: Meanwhile Swedish official says low concentration of radioactive particles to reach US soon

The Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning on Thursday for Israelis traveling in Japan, recommending that they leave the quake-stricken country immediately due to possible radiation leaks.

Meanwhile, a Swedish official says low concentrations of radioactive particles are heading eastwards from Japan's disaster-hit nuclear power plant and are set to reach North America in days.

"Israelis are advised to leave Tokyo towards the south and even to consider departing from the country entirely," the Foreign Ministry stated. Citizens were also advised to refrain from traveling to Japan "until the situation becomes clear".

The embassy in Tokyo remains open, however, and Israelis who remain in the country are being advised to stay in touch with it. » | Ronen Medzini | Thursday, March 17, 2011

Top Japanese Gymnast Withdraws From Paris 2024 for Smoking and Drinking Alcohol

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Shoko Miyata, the team’s captain, withdrew from the Games after an investigation by the country’s gymnastics board found she had violated its code of conduct.

Japan’s Olympic gymnastics team will head into the Paris Games this week without its captain, Shoko Miyata, after she withdrew from the team following an investigation that found she had violated the squad’s code of conduct by smoking and drinking alcohol.

In a news conference last week, officials with the Japan Gymnastics Association, which conducted the investigation, announced Miyata’s withdrawal from the Olympics, saying that “both parties discussed the matter” and that Miyata had decided not to compete.

The Japan Gymnastics Association’s code of conduct forbids drinking or smoking while in official team programs, regardless of age. The legal age for drinking and smoking in Japan is 20; Miyata is 19. » | Ali Watkins | Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Related article here.

Hawaii Orders Evacuations in Tsunami Threat
REUTERS: Hawaii ordered evacuations from coastal areas due to the threat of a tidal wave set off by Friday's earthquake in Japan as a tsunami warning was extended to the whole of the Pacific basin, except mainland United States and Canada.

Authorities also ordered evacuation from low-lying areas on the U.S. island territory of Guam in the western Pacific, where residents there were urged to move at least 50 feet above sea level and 100 feet inland.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the warning extended from Mexico down the Pacific coast of South America.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that the tsunami is currently higher than some Pacific islands which it could wash over.

The quake off Japan's northeast coast was the biggest in 140 years and triggered tsunami waves of up to 10 meters (30 feet) that swept across farmland, sweeping away homes, crops, vehicles and triggering fires. >>> Suzanne Roig and Jorene Barut | HONOLULU | Friday, March 11, 2011

Widespread Tsunami Warning Issued after Japan Quake
REUTERS: A tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific basin except mainland United States and Canada following a huge earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The warning includes Hawaii and extends from Mexico down to South American countries on the Pacific, the center said.

Among the countries for which a tsunami warning is in effect are: Russia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

Australia and New Zealand, which had been on an initial warning list, were later removed. The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre confirmed there was no tsunami threat. >>> Andrew Marshall | SINGAPORE | Friday, March 11, 2011

Related >>>

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami
This disaster is of epic proportions. Whoever could have imagined such a disaster? It has surely touched us all. The Japanese are in need of our help at this extremely difficult time. Let us HELP them NOW. Please make a GENEROUS donation.

BRITISH RED CROSS: Japan Tsunami Appeal >>>
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Japan Must Face Up to Its Shameful Second World War Past like Germany Did, Says Angela Merkel

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: German chancellor speaks on trip to Tokyo of the need for Japan to squarely confront its past ahead of 70th anniversary of country's defeat in Second World War

Japan must face up to its actions during the Second World War if it is serious about building better relations with its neighbours, Angela Merkel warned on Monday.

The German chancellor is on a two-day official to Japan, but her comments are unlikely to be welcomed by Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, whose conservative views on Tokyo’s war crimes are under scrutiny.

“Germany was lucky to be accepted in the community of nations after the horrible experience that the world had to meet with Germany during the period of National Socialism (Nazism) and the Holocaust,” Mrs Merkel said in a public lecture hosted by the left-leaning Asahi newspaper.

“This was possible first because Germany did face its past squarely, but also because the Allied Powers who controlled Germany after the Second World War would attach great importance to Germany coming to grips with its past.”

“One of the great achievements of the time certainly was reconciliation between Germany and France ... The French have given just as valuable a contribution as the Germans have.” » | Julian Ryall in Tokyo | Monday, March 09, 2015

Japan Nuclear Fears Prompt Panic-buying around World
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As nuclear panic began to spread around the world, supermarkets and pharmacies thousands of miles from Japan ran out of anything and everything rumoured to prevent radiation poisoning.

Russia saw a run on red wine and seaweed; in China people were buying massive amounts of salt, and chemists as far away as Bulgaria reported shortages of iodine tablets.

No matter how many scientists were wheeled out to reassure people that radiation levels outside Japan would not pose a threat to health, widespread distrust of official advice meant thousands placed more faith in rumours and old wives’ tales.

In China, the government called for calm after shoppers bought up huge quantities of salt in the mistaken belief that it contains enough iodine to block radiation.

Potassium iodide tablets, which prevent the body from absorbing radiation, have been handed out in Japan to those living near the stricken Fukushima power plant, and in China iodine is added to salt to help prevent iodine deficiency disorders.

The mere mention of the word iodine was enough to prompt panic-buying of salt amid fears that a change in the wind direction could blow a radioactive cloud across China from its near neighbour.

“We are entirely sold out of salt, and shoppers are now buying salt substitutes such as soy sauce, even though there is no connection,” said an exasperated supermarket worker in Shanghai. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Thursday, March 17, 2011

Japanese Gymnast Set to Miss Olympics for Smoking

Shoko Miyata won a first national championship in April | GETTY IMAGES
BBC: Japanese gymnast Shoko Miyata has been sent home and will not compete at the Olympic Games after breaking a team smoking ban.

The 19-year-old left Japan's training camp in Monaco on Thursday as officials investigated the alleged incident.

The teenager - captain of her country's women's artistic gymnastics team - returned to Japan that night after the investigation concluded she had violated the Japan Gymnastics Association's rules.

Smoking is in violation of the association's code of conduct.

"With her confirmation and after discussions on all sides, it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics," Japan Gymnastics Association secretary general Kenji Nishimura told reporters in Tokyo. » | BBC | Thursday, July 18, 2024

North Korea Threatens Full Scale War If Rocket Is Intercepted
THE TELEGRAPH: North Korea says it will wage war on America, Japan and South Korea if any attempt is made to intercept the launch of a rocket it claims is intended to put a satellite into space.

A military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
It has also cut off its border and telephone links with the South in protest at military exercises by American and South Korean troops which began on Monday.

Plans for a launch were first picked up by satellite imagery, with foreign intelligence agencies saying it was a test of a long-range Taepodong-2 missile with the capacity to hit parts of the United States.

The United States said it would shoot down the missile if it headed towards its territory. Japan has suggested it might try to intercept any launch, even if the payload is a communications satellite as claimed by Pyongyang.

"If the enemies recklessly opt for intercepting our satellite, our revolutionary armed forces will launch without hesitation a just retaliatory strike operation," the general staff of the North Korean army said in a statement on state media. It singled out the United States, Japan and South Korea as targets.

"Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," it said. >>> By Richard Spencer in Beijing | Monday, March 9, 2009

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Nordkoreas Truppen in voller Kampfbereitschaft

Das nordkoreanische Militär hat im Fernsehen mögliche Schläge gegen militärische Stützpunkte der USA, Japans und Südkoreas angekündigt. Foto dank der Berliner Zeitung
Seoul - Wegen eines Großmanövers der US-Streitkräfte mit Südkorea hat Nordkorea seine Truppen in volle Kampfbereitschaft versetzt und auch die letzte Kommunikationsleitung zum Nachbarland gekappt.

Zugleich warnte die nordkoreanische Volksarmee am Montag vor Versuchen, einen «Satelliten» abzuschießen, den Nordkorea ins All befördern wolle. Ein Abschuss käme einer Kriegserklärung gleich und würde mit Vergeltungsschlägen gegen die USA, Südkorea und Japan beantwortet. Wann der Satellit starten soll, blieb unklar. Für die Dauer des Manövers soll den Angaben zufolge der «heiße Draht» zu Südkorea abgeschnitten werden, der bei Bedarf die Kommunikation zur Lösung akuter Konflikte sicherstellen soll. >>> ©dpa | Montag, 9. März 2009

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