Despite Japan’s cancellation of participation in naval exercise at Jeju Island due to the Rising Sun flag controversy, they have decided not to retaliate and welcome ROK Naval ships to Sasebo:
This file photo shows South Korean naval destroyer Dae Jo Yeong. (Yonhap)
Three South Korean naval ships carrying hundreds of military cadets will make a port call at Japan’s Sasebo naval base early next month, officials said Sunday.
The flotilla of three ships — comprising the lead vessel, 4,000-ton destroyer Dae Jo Yeong, and two amphibious landing ships, the Cheon Wang Bong and Il Chul Bong — will depart from the Korean naval base of Pyeongtaek to Sasebo via Jeju Island as part of a training cruise. The ships will visit ports in neighboring countries from Oct. 28 through Nov. 18.
About 600 students from South Korea’s national military, naval and air force academies will be on board the ships, according to the Ministry of National Defense. It is the first time the cadets from the three academies will have taken part in a joint cruise exercise.
After Sasebo, the ships will sail to the Russian port of Vladivostok, the ministry said. [Yonhap]
This is a wise move because Japan doesn’t need to give South Korean leftists any more reason to bash the country with:
A Japanese protester holds the rising sun flag and Japanese flag during a rally against South Korea in Tokyo on Feb. 22, 2013. KOJI SASAHARA/AP
Japan announced Friday that it won’t send a warship to an international fleet review hosted by South Korea next week because it could not accept Seoul’s request that it remove the Japanese navy’s “rising sun” flag.
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that Japan had notified the South Korean government of its decision.
“Unfortunately, we have come to a situation where we have no choice but to pass on our participation in the international fleet review,” Iwaya said.
Many South Koreans see the flag as a symbol of Japan’s World War II aggression, and protested its use during the Oct. 10-14 event near Jeju island. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but this dust up makes me wonder that if North Korea gets its confederation with South Korea, will the Stars & Stripes one day be unwelcome in Korea? From the Kim regime perspective it would be a symbol of aggression just like the Rising Sun flag.
I am sure the irony is not lost on the Kim regime that they are bashing the Japanese Navy for an arms build up when it simply tested an SM-3 missile used for missile defense of their country. An SM-3 missile is not used for offensive operations against North Korea:
North Korea on Saturday blasted Japan for trying to create tension on the Korean Peninsula, while also accusing the country of trying to rebuild its military.
“The maritime ‘Self-Defense Force’ (MSDF) of Japan recently conducted a test-fire of the interceptor missile SM-3 Block 1B on an Aegis destroyer in waters off Hawaii of the U.S. It is reportedly the first time that the MSDF conducted an interceptor missile test-fire,” the Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper published by the North’s Workers’ Party, reported.
In a commentary carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency, the newspaper insisted Japan was trying to build a military capable of waging war against others.
“The present reactionary regime of Japan seeks to put the Asia-Pacific region under control by turning Japan into a country capable of going to war,” it said. [Yonhap]
Courtesy of the Japanese Navy, the Moon administration has a nice distraction to rally all Koreans around:
The Navy said Sunday it remains in opposition to a Japanese warship carrying a controversial imperialistic flag to an international naval event in South Korea next month.
The southern island of Jeju will stage the International Fleet Review from Oct. 10-14, and the Navy said warships from 15 nations, including Japan, the United States and China, will participate in the first such event in South Korea since 2008.
The Japanese vessel is expected to display the Rising Sun Flag, viewed as an emblem of the country’s wartime aggression in South Korea, where historical animosity over the wrongdoings of the country’s former colonizer still runs deep. Japan colonized the peninsula from 1910-45.
South Korea earlier informed participating nations that they should raise their national flag and the flag of the host country. One South Korean Navy official said the stance hasn’t changed.
“We’ll continue to speak with Japan regarding this matter,” the official said. “Our Navy has a separate communication channel with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and we’ll continue to let them know where we stand.”
Another South Korean military source said he expected Japan to carry the flag into Jeju waters and then take it down during the actual review. [Yonhap]
This is pretty significant that a foreign country is willing to defend US soil with one of their missile defense systems:
Cmdr. Axel Steiner of Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System Romania gives a tour to members from the Japanese Diet, July 31, 2018.
Japan will legally be able to use planned Aegis Ashore systems to intercept North Korean missiles launched toward Guam, a top government official said this week.
A pacifist constitution bans Japan from stepping in to defend other nations unless it was also being attacked; however, security legislation passed in 2015 allows the country to exercise its right to collective defense and to defend close allies when attacked — under certain conditions. [Stars and Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but also keep in mind that Japan is home to two AN/TPY-2 radar sites operated by US soldiers that are also used to detect ballistic missiles launch from North Korea as part of the US homeland defense architecture. Clearly Japan is a great ally in regards to protecting US citizens from ballistic missile attack.
This thread reminds me of a speech by a high ranking Central Party official in which he spoke of the need for study-abroad students to avoid foreign women, in particular Japanese who will target us for improvement of their genetic stock. https://t.co/zI4rjVcy8E
Based on Japan’s recent military budget proposal I think we can infer that they expect the current peace initiative between North Korea, South Korea, and the United States will not last:
Aegis Ashore Deckhouse
Japan’s Defense Ministry is seeking to more than double spending on missile defense, including purchases of costly American arsenals, to defend against North Korean threats.
The record-high 5.3 trillion yen ($47 billion) request for fiscal 2019, approved Friday by the ministry, is up 2.1 percent from last year. The military spending has risen seven consecutive years under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The request related to missile defense rises to 424 billion yen ($3.8 billion) from about 180 billion yen last year. The overall government budget plan is to be submitted for Cabinet and parliamentary approval later this year.
The final budget could still grow because the request leaves out spending to reduce Okinawan communities’ burden of hosting many of 50,000 American troops stationed on the southern island and a relocation cost for some troops to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.
A big chunk would buy a pair of land-based Aegis missile defense systems and a ship-to-air SM-3 Block IIA interceptor with an expanded range and accuracy developed jointly by the U.S. and Japan, as well as upgrading of fighter jets and destroyers to make them compatible with advanced interceptors. [Stars & Stripes]
It has taken 23 years, but the Japanese government has finally executed the Aum Shinrikyo cult leaders responsible for the 1995 sarin gas subway attack in Tokyo and other murders in Japan:
Shoko Asahara headed the Aum Shinrikyo cult
Seven members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult which carried out a deadly chemical attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995 have been executed, including cult leader Shoko Asahara.
The Sarin attack, Japan’s worst terror incident, killed 13 people and injured thousands more.
The executions took place at a Tokyo detention house on Friday morning.
Japan does not give prior notice of executions, but they were later confirmed by the justice ministry.
Shoko Asahara, 63, and his followers were also accused of several other murders and an earlier Sarin gas attack in 1994 which killed eight and left 600 injured. [BBC]
Here is the statement put out after the trilateral summit in Tokyo:
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, pose for photographs prior to their summit in Tokyo Wednesday. [YONHAP]Leaders from South Korea, Japan and China on Wednesday adopted a special statement in support of the Panmunjom Declaration, which was signed at the inter-Korean summit last month and confirmed the shared goal of the two Koreas of complete denuclearization.
The special statement was made following a trilateral meeting in Tokyo of President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and Premier Li Keqiang of China, the first of its kind in more than two years. The last such three-way summit was held in November 2015 in Seoul. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Here is what was agreed upon that really matters during the trilateral summit:
At the Moon-Abe talks, the latter made it clear that sanctions imposed on the North should not be lifted unless Pyongyang demonstrates concrete denuclearization measures, emphasizing that the closing down of a nuclear testing site and a halt in the firing of ballistic missiles were not sufficient for sanctions relief.
“It is the timing that matters when it comes to easing or withdrawing sanctions altogether on North Korea,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by the Blue House during the bilateral summit talk with Moon in the afternoon.
“We should not reward the North for just shutting down the Punggye-ri nuclear site or stopping the test-firing of intercontinental ballistic missiles. We need additional and substantive actions from the North,” said Abe.
On the matter of easing sanctions, Moon stressed Seoul could not move to ease sanctions unilaterally, noting that sanctions were international agreements in which Seoul took part.
“There could be worries that South Korea could make a unilateral move to ease sanctions independent of the international consensus. There is no need for such worries,” he said. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Basically Prime Minister Abe is making the case that North Korea was rewarded in past agreements for doing little to nothing in return. This time they should not be rewarded until they take real measures to denuclearize.
