TOKYO, June 19 (UPI) -- Japan will take hard-line stance if North Korea launches a long-range missile, Japan's top spokesman said Monday.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, at a news conference Monday, promised "severe action" but Japan and the United States if North Korea launches a Taepodong missile.
"(The North Koreans) would gain no benefit from launching the missile," Abe said.
He did not detail specific measures Japan would take or on what intelligence it has obtained regarding reports that North Korea is preparing to test a missile.
South Korean media, citing analysis from government officials, reported Monday that North Korea is believed to have completed fueling the missile.
Launching the missile would violate the 2002 Pyongyang Joint Declaration, in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Il agreed to extend its freeze on missile activity.
The Taepodong is believed to have the range to reach the U.S. West Coast.
