Japan launches spy satellite to monitor North Korea; Japan to officially acknowledge existence of secret US nuclear pact; Approval ratings for Hatoyama drop by 8 per cent since October
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Japan successfully launched a new spy satellite to monitor North Korean military activities aboard the H-IIA launch vehicle from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. It was the 10th consecutive successful H-IIA launch since 2005.1
Reports noted that Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada will soon officially acknowledge the existence of a secret Japan-US pact that allowed US vessels carrying nuclear weapons to enter Japanese territory.2
In other developments, approval ratings for PM Yukio Hatoyama dropped by eight points to 64 percent. However, 74 percent of those surveyed supported the government's ongoing budget-cut initiatives.3
- 1. ‘Japan successfully launches new optical spy satellite’, Mainichi Japan, November 28, 2009 at http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20091128p2a00m0na014000c.html
- 2. ‘Okada to acknowledge secret Japan-U.S. nuclear pact’, Mainichi Japan, November 23, 2009 at http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20091123p2a00m0na007000c.html
- 3. ‘Approval rating for Hatoyama Cabinet dips to 64 percent’, Mainichi Japan, November 24, 2009 at http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20091124p2a00m0na026000c.html