Japan orders military to be ready for North Korea missile launch at any time
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan ordered its military on Monday to be ready at any time to shoot down any North Korean missiles that threaten to strike Japan, putting its forces on a state of alert for at least three months, a defence ministry official and media said. Up to now, Japan has issued temporary orders when it had indications of an imminent North Korean missile launch that it has canceled after a projectile had been launched. However, because some test firings are hard to detect, it has decided to put its military on standby for a longer period. The order will be reviewed after three months, state broadcaster NHK said. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Robert Birsel)