Tag: Japan

The three nations have done this trilateral missile defense exercises in the past, but they were scrapped during the prior Moon administration:

South Korea, the United States and Japan held a trilateral missile defense exercise in the international waters of the East Sea on Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, amid heightened tensions caused by North Korea’s recent missile launches.

The exercise took place in waters east of South Korea’s Ulleung Island, mobilizing three Aegis-equipped destroyers — the South’s Sejong the Great, the U.S.’ USS Barry and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s JS Atago — according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The exercise, which lasted for some five hours from 9 a.m., focused on practicing procedures to detect, track and intercept computer-simulated targets, and share related information, it said.

Of the three destroyers, only the U.S. vessel was involved in the interception segment, while the rest joined other parts of the drills, such as the detection of virtual targets, a Seoul official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans are continuing to make sure the world doesn’t lose attention on them:

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said, with the weapon splashing down some 200 kilometers off Hokkaido’s Oshima Island, inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The missile, the first “ICBM-class” weapon to be fired by the North since November, traveled roughly 900 km, hitting a peak altitude of 5,700 km, the ministry said. With a flight time of 66 minutes, the missile was likely flown on a “lofted” trajectory, the ministry added, meaning it had been nearly shot straight up so as to avoid overflying neighboring countries.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan had protested the launch, calling it “an outrage” and escalation against “the international community as a whole.”

The Defense Ministry said the ICBM-class weapon was believed to have a range of over 14,000 km, depending on the weight of the warhead and other factors.

“In this case, that would put the entire United States within its range,” Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.

Japan Times

A camera from the city of Hakodate on Hokkaido appears to have even caught the ICBM reentering the atmosphere:

This next graphic shows the trajectory of the ICBM that landed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone:

According to the article the launch is believed to be in response to a table top exercise next week between the U.S. and the ROK militaries where they will plan on how to defend against North Korean nuclear attacks.

Apparently the family waited too long to file a claim after the Korean Supreme Court issued their initial ruling of compensation for forced labor victims back in 2012:

A Seoul court on Tuesday ruled against the family of a man enslaved to work for Japan during World War II in a damages suit they filed against a Japanese company.

The man, surnamed Kim, was mobilized to work at a construction site operated by Japanese company Nishimatsu Construction in North Hamgyong Province in what is now North Korea in 1942 while the entire Korean peninsula was under Japan’s colonial rule, his family said. 

Kim died two years later while working at the construction site, and a South Korean government committee in 2006 recognized him as a victim of Japan’s wartime forced labor. 

Five family members of Kim filed the civil suit against Nishimatsu in 2019 on behalf of him, seeking about 70 million won (US$55,183) in compensation. 

The Seoul Central District Court ruled the statute of limitations on the case already expired as it concluded the damages case against the plaintiffs.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is definitely an issue that needs to be resolved before bilateral relations between the ROK and Japan can move forward more collaboratively. Expect all the DPRK and PRC agitators to do all they can to stoke this issue with the Korean public in order to prevent Japan and the ROK from moving forward with bilateral relations.

It looks like the Chinese are now violating the territorial waters of Japan for spy purposes as well:

Tokyo lodged a diplomatic complaint with Beijing on Sunday after a Chinese navy vessel entered Japan’s territorial waters off the southern tip of its main islands, according to Japanese government statements.

A Shupang-class survey ship crossed the 12-mile territorial limit around Yakushima, an island 40 miles south of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that day.

The vessel remained for slightly less than two hours before exiting to the southwest of neighboring Kuchinoerabu island, the statement said.

The survey vessel’s intrusion was the first of the year by the Chinese navy, according to the Ministry of Defense website. Shupang-class survey vessels made five intrusions in 2022, according to the ministry.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This would be a huge development if it comes to fruition:

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says he’d consider a reciprocal military access agreement with Japan to guard his country’s fishermen and sea territory amid tension with China.

“If it will be of help to the Philippines in terms of protecting, for example, our fishermen, protecting our maritime territory, if it’s going to help, then … I don’t see why we should not adopt it,” Marcos said, according to an official transcript of an interview with reporters on his flight back Sunday from a five-day official trip to Tokyo.

Philippine officials are assessing whether such an agreement would help their country or worsen tensions in the South China Sea, Marcos said.

“We have to be careful also because we do not want to appear provocative,” he said. “That instead of calming the situation in the South China Sea, we would heighten it, right? That’s not what we want.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida “briefly” discussed the concept of a defense pact when the two leaders met on Thursday, Marcos said. That day, the pair signed an agreement that allows Japan to deploy its forces for humanitarian missions and disaster response in the Philippines, The Associated Press reported Friday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but any military agreement the Philippines signs with Japan will be taken as provocative by China However, isn’t the Chinese forcibly claiming Philippines territory even more provocative?

Being in an increasingly bad neighborhood has convinced the majority of the Japanese public they need to build up their defenses. This is a big change considering how for decades the Japanese public has maintained a pacifist stance:

People in Japan are warming to the idea of a stronger defense policy amid challenges from China, Russia and North Korea, according to a recent poll.

The Nikkei Research survey of 1,663 Japanese adults between October and November showed 49% backed an expanded role in the U.S.-Japan alliance while 46% opposed it.

That’s up from 41% who wanted a bigger role for Japan in the alliance and 53% who were against it in 2020. A 2021 survey showed 46% in favor and 49% against, the Nikkei newspaper reported Jan. 25.

When people were asked if they were worried Japan might be attacked, 83% said they were concerned while 14% said they weren’t. Of those concerned, 54% said Japan should boost its role in the U.S.-Japan alliance, according to the poll.

North Korean and Chinese missile launches near Japan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine kept security issues in the news last year.

In the latest poll, 89% of respondents saw China as a threat, 87% felt threatened by North Korea, and 90% saw Russia as a threat.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I just don’t understand how idiots like this guy think they are going to get away with doing dumb things like this:

This screenshot from an All Nippon News report shows security camera footage from a car dealer in Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 3, 2022. (ANN)

A U.S. Marine has met with and apologized to the owner of a vehicle that was stolen and then crashed last month outside this base near Hiroshima, according to a local media report. 

The Marine, who has not been identified by local authorities or the Marine Corps, spent nearly two hours with the victim on Thursday, the local Chugoku newspaper reported the next day. In addition to apologizing, he promised to pay for any damages, the report said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.