N. Korea deployed top air, naval forces to guard rocket launch: report

SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea deployed fighter jets and bombers while one of its warships sailed close to Japan to warn against any outside attempt to interfere with its rocket launch on Sunday, a South Korean report showed.

North Korean aircraft flew as far as past the mid-point between their country and
Japan, while a destroyer sailed closer to the island neighbor than to its port,
according to the government report presented at South Korea's National Assembly.
North Korea had deployed a squadron of MiG-23s near its coastal Musudan-ri launch
site before the launch, which neighbors suspect was a pretext to test-fire a
long-range ballistic missile.
Pyongyang has harshly vowed to retaliate against any foreign attempt to intercept
its rocket. It claims the rocket successfully orbited its satellite even though
Seoul has yet to confirm it.
North Korea's aircraft appeared to have been based at two separate airfields on
either side of the launch site, the report showed, using a simple illustration.
A separate North Korean "support vessel" stayed near the launch site before the
liftoff, according to the report, while the U.S. and Japan flew several advanced
surveillance aircraft to monitor it.
Russia has also deployed a vessel to monitor the launch, the report said,
describing its purpose as "information gathering."
samkim@yna.co.kr
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