WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Navy ships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles are being moved to the Sea of Japan, a Navy spokesman said.
The USS Chaffee is one of two destroyers headed to South Korea for an upcoming ceremony.
The USS Chaffee is one of two destroyers headed to South Korea for an upcoming ceremony.
The move came as North Korea was preparing for an expected rocket launch next month.
Later Thursday, Japan announced it was ready to fire on the rocket if any part of it enters Japanese airspace.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada's order was to destroy debris from the North Korean rocket if its launch fails and fragments fall in Japanese territory, said defense ministry spokesman Yuichi Akiyoshi.
The U.S. ships, with powerful Aegis radar that can track ballistic missile launches, were on regularly planned deployments but were, "prepared to track a launch or more, if afforded," according to a U.S. Navy official who could not be named due to the sensitivity of the information.
The United States generally has a number of Aegis-capable ships in the Sea of Japan because of the threat posed by North Korea to launch missiles. The ships monitor the region and are designed to track and, if need be, shoot down ballistic missiles.
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