Japan on Saturday ordered its military to prepare to shoot down a North Korean ballistic missile. Pyongyang is to launch its first military intelligence and spy satellite into orbit, reports AFP.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada asked the country’s troops to “take necessary measures to limit damage in the event of a ballistic missile fall.”

Preparations include the deployment of destroyers equipped with SM-3 missile interceptors and the deployment of military units in Okinawa Prefecture (south) ready to launch Patriot PAC-3 missiles.

According to North Korea’s state news agency, Kim Jong-un ordered the launch of his first military intelligence satellite on Wednesday, without specifying when the launch would take place.

Putting the satellite into orbit would require the use of a long-range projectile, the launch of which the United Nations considers a ballistic missile test, which North Korea theoretically has no right to use.

In 2012 and 2016, North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests that Pyongyang described as satellite launches.

Both missiles flew over the Japanese region of Okinawa.