The Defense Agency is gearing up to increase its surveillance of North Korea due to growing concern that Pyongyang may be planning to launch ballistic missiles, agency sources said Saturday.
The agency hopes to detect signs of a missile being prepared for launch in North Korea, such as the preparation of a launch pad or a missile being fueled, by intercepting radio traffic via communications posts across the nation or data from U.S. spy satellites.
If indications of an imminent launch are detected, the agency will move either of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's two Aegis destroyers -- stationed at Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, and at Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture -- to the Sea of Japan, according to the sources.