The Wall Street Journal
By YUKA HAYASHI
TOKYO—North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island put the Japanese government on high alert, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordering his cabinet members to step up information-gathering and prepare for emergencies.
Japan's self-defense forces and Foreign Ministry officials on Tuesday were expected to escalate intelligence-gathering activities from vessels operating in the Sea of Japan near the Korean Peninsula. Government officials said they would keep in close contact with representative offices in South Korea, as well as with the U.S. military.
Mr. Kan spent his afternoon on a national holiday discussing with his aides the dramatic escalation in tensions in nearby South Korea. South Korea scrambled jets and returned fire after the North fired scores of artillery rockets on Yeonpyeong island Tuesday afternoon, setting houses on fire in its small villages and sending its 1,200 residents scrambling for bomb shelters.
At this point, Japanese activities will focus on information-gathering, rather than preparing forces for a possible wartime situation, the officials said, citing the South Korean government's effort to contain the situation.
If fighting were to escalate between the Koreas, however, Japan would also need to prepare for a potential flood of refugees.
Mr. Kan told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he instructed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku and other officials "to do their best to collect information on the situation and be prepared for any kind of unexpected incidents."
The prime minister was scheduled to hold a formal meeting with key cabinet ministers, including Mr. Sengoku, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, at 8:45 p.m. Tokyo time.
Write to Yuka Hayashi at yuka.hayashi@wsj.com
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