A Japanese daily says Japan is raising its alert, based on the belief that North Korea could fire its enhanced Daepodong Two long range ballistic missile sometime in mid-March.

The Sankei Shimbun says the North will likely begin to inject fuel into the missile launcher beginning later this week. It noted that the injection takes hours and, once injected, the missile must be fired before the fuel erodes. Sankei believes Pyongyang may fire the missile within three days of installing the launch pad.

Japan's Defense Ministry is preparing for a possible launch on special upcoming days in North Korea including the March eighth general elections and the 97th birthday of the North's late founder, Kim Il-sung, on April 15th.

The ministry also eyes between March ninth and the 20th during the South Korea-U.S. Key Resolve joint military drill. This theory reflects the North's 2007 decision to fire its Daepodong missile on July Fourth, U.S. Independence Day.