Japan demands North Korea cancel satellite rocket launch, spokesperson says

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the country's top government spokesperson, said on Monday Tokyo had demanded via diplomatic channels in Beijing that North Korea cancel its planned satellite rocket launch.

North Korea notified Japan of its plan to launch a rocket carrying a space satellite towards the Yellow Sea and east of Luzon Island between May 27 and June 4, the Japan Coast Guard said earlier in the day.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)