Japan Heightens Military Alert for North Korean "Space Launch"

North Korea's plan for a third attempt to propel a satellite into orbit is prompting a military alert in Japan. Authorities there and in other countries say the blast-off, expected by mid-April, would violate U.N. resolutions banning North Korea from utilizing ballistic missile technology.

It is perhaps the highest state of readiness for Japan's military since World War II. The country has deployed naval ships equipped with interceptor missiles and set up missile defenses on offshore islands and even in central Tokyo.

U.S. forces in Japan are on a similar state of alert.