North Korea has informed Japan of its plan to launch a satellite in the coming days, which could be an attempt to put its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has ordered Japan's Self-Defense Force to shoot down the satellite or debris if any enters Japanese territory. The launch window is from May 31 to June 11, and the launch may affect waters in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and east of the Philippines' Luzon Island.

The joint military exercise conducted by the US and South Korean forces involved the deployment of hundreds of troops and dozens of tanks, artillery systems and aircraft.

A study published Wednesday revealed that Seoul, South Korea, lost one in ten of its pediatric clinics in the last five years, a dramatic reduction largely attributed to the nation’s catastrophically low birth rate.

The US and South Korea on Thursday held massive live-fire drills near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) border in the latest provocation toward Pyongyang that will likely provoke North Korean missile tests.