North Korea is apparently readying her second rocket launch of 2012, attempting to ping satellites in to orbit using ballistic missiles. Island neighbour Japan is a trifle nervous about it and is readying Patriot missiles to islands close to the areas where the three rocket stages are expected to crash land.
There’s a fair amount of such military posturing and space activity going on in that part of the world, which goes some way to explaining this, this and this.
Click on the graphic for an expanded view.
Engineering & Technology magazine 