Tag: Japan

The positive developments in relations between South Korea and Japan continues to expand:

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands prior to their expanded summit talks at the latter’s residence in Tokyo on March 16, 2023.

Japan announced a decision Tuesday to reinstate South Korea on its “white list” of trusted trading partners, about four years after the removal, in a move to improve the bilateral economic relationship, Seoul’s industry ministry said.

The Japanese trade ministry revised a rule to redesignate South Korea as “Group A,” or a white list nation, which would give Seoul preferential export treatment, effective July 21, according to Seoul’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Korean officials that studied the plan to release contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean as the best of bad options:

Japan’s decision to release contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima plant was finalized years ago as the most realistic alternative, and there is no point in talking about other ways to dispose of the water now, an official said Monday.

Amid concerns about health hazards, critics have suggested alternative ways, other than releasing the wastewater into the ocean, such as solidifying the water within concrete or storing the water in massive tanks.

“That part is something that was discussed for more than four years in the mid-2010s,” Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said of other methods during a daily briefing on the Fukushima release plan.

“At the time, there were extremely complex discussions within Japan, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was in the final decision,” Park said. “The current method of releasing it into the ocean was finalized as the most realistic alternative when scientific precedents and safety were comprehensively taken into account.”

Suggesting the IAEA reverse the decision would contradict the principles of faith and trust, Park said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I people are wondering why Japan is growing their military capabilities this is just another example why:

North Korea sent at least two ballistic missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in waters off Ishikawa Prefecture on Thursday, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said, further ramping up tensions after a failed satellite launch last month.

Both missiles splashed down some 250 kilometers northwest of Ishikawa’s Hegura Island, traveling about 850 km and 900 km, respectively, Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Kimi Onoda told reporters, adding that there had not been any reports of damage to aircraft or ships.

Onoda called the launches into Japan’s EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its coast, “absolutely unacceptable” and “a serious matter concerning the safety of residents of the country.”

The launches were the first to land in Japan’s EEZ since mid-February.

Japan Times

The North Koreans are claiming the launches were in response to joint US and ROK live fire exercises:

The allies ended the fifth and last round of the Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise, the first of its kind in six years, at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.

More than 610 military assets were mobilized for the drills, including F-35A fighters and K9 self-propelled howitzers from the South Korean side, and F-16 fighter jets and Gray Eagle drones from the U.S. side.

The North’s defense ministry accused the allies of escalating tensions, saying the drills warrant its “inevitable” response.

“Our army strongly denounces the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities escalating the military tension in the region despite its repeated warnings and warns them solemnly,” the spokesperson said in the statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

In Japan the big news is that a Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) Soldier at a rifle range went crazy and shot three fellow Soldiers, killing two of them:

NHK has learned that the suspect in the shooting that left two Self-Defense Force members dead has told police that he targeted a 52-year-old instructor.

Two SDF members died and another was injured in the shooting incident in Gifu City, central Japan. Police arrested an 18-year-old male SDF candidate on suspicion of attempted murder.

The suspect reportedly started shooting with an automatic rifle shortly after training began at the shooting range around 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

A 25-year-old and a 52-year-old man have been confirmed dead, and another 25-year-old man is hospitalized. The three were SDF members in charge of training.

The suspect reportedly told police that he intentionally shot his instructor. He also said he shot an SDF member who was next to him because he stood between himself and the instructor and blocked his way.

NHK World

You can read more at the link, but JGSDF officials say they will take measures to prevent this from happening again. I am not sure what you can do to stop someone from going crazy like this guy. Will they chain the weapons to the ground?

Anyway this incident reminded me of the Ingman Range Massacre that happened at Camp Casey in 1981 which was far worse than this incident with the JGSDF.

Korean shoppers are supposedly hoarding sea salt due to fears that all the salt off the shores of Korea will soon be contaminated by the release of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant:

Workers produce sea salt at a salt farm in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, in October 2021. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries denied that the salt price has increased due to hoarding amid the Fukushima concerns. 

“The major cause for the salt price rise was a decrease in production due to more rainy days than usual and retailers’ stockpiling in preparation for the monsoon season,” a ministry official said. 

But the view of industry players was different. They said that while this year’s production decreased by about 30 percent from a year earlier, this was not enough to explain the soaring salt price at present. 

“Japan’s plan has scared consumers off. This would not be the sole reason for increasing salt prices but had some impact for sure,” an official of a salt farm in Sinan County said. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the IAEA approved of the plan by the Japanese to release the water into the ocean with a small enough amount of radioactivity that it would be diluted. According to the Korean government they have stepped up monitoring of the ocean water around Korea and have not detected any radioactivity.

North Korea is making it clear they are never going to come clean on Japanese abductees. This likely because the unaccounted for abductees provided language training to North Korean operatives still within Japan:

Photos of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted from Japan by North Korea in 1977, are displayed at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, May 9, 2018. (Stars and Stripes)

North Korea is willing to hold talks with Japan on improving their relationship but considers further discussions over abducted Japanese citizens “a waste of time,” according to North Korean state media.

Nothing prevents the two nations from meeting, provided Japan makes “a new decision from a broad perspective of recognizing each other” and “seeks a way of improving the relations,” North Korean vice-minister of foreign affairs Pak Sang Gil was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency on Monday. 

The abduction issue, still a sticking point in Japan, is already resolved, Pak said.

In 2002, North Korea admitted for the first time to abducting Japanese nationals in the 1970s and ‘80s and apologized at a summit meeting with Japan, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry. Five abductees returned to Japan in October of that year, but another 12 remain unaccounted for.

Japan continues to investigate more than 800 people who might have been abducted, according to Japan’s Cabinet Office. 

“Without the resolution of this issue, there can be no normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea,” the Foreign Ministry website states.

North Korea said it has returned all living abductees; the remainder are either dead or never entered the North.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The only way the rocket North Korea is launching to put a satellite into space lands in Japanese territory is if there is a failed launch causing debris to land in the southwest islands. Japan has their military ready to respond to if that possibility happens:

The Defense Ministry in Tokyo

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Monday ordered the Self-Defense Forces to prepare to destroy a North Korean missile in case it falls within Japan’s territory.

The order, effective through June 11, was issued after North Korea notified Japan of its launch plans.

At a hastily convened press conference on Monday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno referred to the possibility that the rocket could pass over Japan’s territory, including the Nansei Islands that span Kyushu and Okinawa Prefecture.

Matsuno condemned North Korea’s planned launch, calling it a “serious provocation.”

The SDF are expected to respond to the situation by mobilizing Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) units deployed in the Miyako, Ishigaki and Yonaguni islands in Okinawa Prefecture, as well as deploying an Aegis destroyer equipped with Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor missiles to the East China Sea.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday morning, “A launch using ballistic missile technology is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a serious matter concerning the safety of the people.”

Yomiuri

You can read more at the link.