Japan mulls N. Korea self-defense strike

CNN. Asia | 02.13.03

[Enemy Of The State]

Japan mulls N. Korea self-defense strike

Thursday, February 13, 2003 Posted: 4:06 PM HKT (0806 GMT)

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japan would launch a military strike against North Korea if Tokyo had firm evidence that the Stalinist state was ready to attack with ballistic missiles, Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said.

"It is too late if [a missile] flies towards Japan," Ishiba told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

"Our nation will use military force as a self-defense measure if [North Korea] started to resort to arms against Japan," he said, adding that Japan could regard the process of injecting fuel into a missile as the start of military attack.

Ishiba, known as a hawkish defense expert, also said Tokyo should develop a missile defense system with the United States since it lacks the capability to defend itself from missile attacks from North Korea.

"To develop and deploy [a missile defense system] is one of the major options. Our nation should pursue this," he said.

Ishiba, who took over the defense portfolio last September, said that in the longer term Japan could boost its military strength in order to reduce dependence on the United States.

Ishiba's remarks come as tensions run high over North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons program and Pyongyang's insistence that it is free to launch ballistic missiles.

In 1993, North Korea upset Japan by test-firing a medium-range Rodong-1 missile into the Sea of Japan.

And in August 1998, North Korea launched a three-stage Taepodong-1 missile over Japan, demonstrating that parts of western Japan were within the estimated 1,000-km (600-mile) range of the missile.

U.S. officials said on Wednesday that Pyongyang had a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile that could reach the West Coast of the United States, but that the missile had not been tested. (Full story)

Washington also says North Korea probably has one or two atomic weapons, but Ishiba declined comment on whether Japan had any independent confirmation of that assertion.

[Mr. Lucky]

Your apology is humbly accepted.

[mhking]

In English, please, for those of us who are handicapped and can't read Korean...(or is that Japanese? it looks like Kanji at first glance)

[mhking]

"Calling Monster Island! Mothra! Godzilla! Gidera! Come quick we need your help!"

MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!MANINSUIT!

[phasma proeliator]

As I mentioned in a post yesterday, North Korea = China.


I don't disagree that the North Koreans need to be neutralized - but a stike on North Korean without a simultaneous, massive military stike on China would be pointless.


North Korean exists and survives because the Chinese allow it to. I see no point in only addressing the branch and ignoring the tree.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

Ishiba, known as a hawkish defense expert, also said Tokyo should develop a missile defense system with the United States since it lacks the capability to defend itself from missile attacks from North Korea. "To develop and deploy [a missile defense system] is one of the major options. Our nation should pursue this," he said.

During his first term, President Reagan (derided by his leftist traitor critics as "President Ray-gun") first advocated that a missile defense capability be developed. The leftist, anti-American Democrats fought against this tooth and nail for almost two decades, doing everything they possibly could to obstruct, delay, and defeat this initiative. "It would be a threat to world peace," They claimed.

Well, we are now finding out that not having even a minimal capability to shoot down a single missile launched by Madman is the REAL treat to world peace.

We had almost twenty years. . . twenty years wasted by TRAITORS in the media and the left wing of the congress. Now, we are looking at the very real possibility that multiple cities in Japan and the US could be destroyed, and millions of Americans and Japanese killed or horribly injured, and there is NOTHING we can do to stop it.

[phasma proeliator]

Reagan Bump.

[struggle]

another good analysis about the engine tests. i feel, however secret north korea is, that japan, south korea and america are actively watching north korea and know something that we dont. there seems to be a great deal of brauhaha in the japanese masukomi, or press, about north korea, but it seems that only the yatou, irrelevant parties of the japanese diet, are really making a deal about north korea. i wonder if japan's leadership is totally ignorant of the danger, or if they know that north korea's threat itself is irrelevant. i suppose the later. in fact, i believe that north korea has no ability to create a nuke yet, and furthermore, it will take quite a while to do so. north korea is just making noise to scare people, and it's only working with the populi of other countries. either way, kim jhon il knows he will be a pile of dust and south korea will be ruling his country only a few days after he pushes the button. unless he has china in league. hm.....

p.s. folks, my wife is sleeping now, be quiet.

[kidd]

North Korea = China

While I agree, I would nevertheless like to see this tested. The United States needs to make it clear that continued MFN status will require China to take all diplomatic and economic measures necessary for NK to dismantle its WMD programs.

I don't believe that China would comply, so this would be an excellent way of closing the door on China and its military build up. But if they do comply, it would solve the short-term problem of NK.

[AmericanInTokyo]

The circumpolar graphic showing Taepodong-2 capabilities I put up that you just asked about, is entitled: "Range of North Korean missile as projected by USA" The inner circle says "normal", and the outer circle, taking in all of the US and most of Europe, says "in the case of third stage missile". It also gives the ranges for strike, such as 'about 6700km' in the case of 'normal' and 'about 15000km' in the case of 'third stage rocket'. You were right, it was Japanese and you did see the kanji characters.

[AmericanInTokyo]

short a coup d'etat against Kim, which is doable

[katana]

Everybody's a bit nervous, and if you're in Tokyo, you've got more reason to be than most.

The technology is supposedly only in the preliminary testing stages, but we have been playing around with airframe based chemical lasers that can knock a basketball size hole in the side of a missile tube (while it's in flight). There are times when it becomes advisable to deploy things which aren't fully tested. This might be one of those times and the Sea of Japan looks to be a good place to do it.

[AmericanInTokyo]

excellent idea. tie MFN/Trade for China to their effectively having the ability and pull to police-in North Korea (even though they have had a separating of ways recently that is not often reported). you just might have a winner there. you need to get some mavericks in the House, like Rohrbacher, to carry that one for you. excellent.

[AmericanInTokyo]

an ICBM strike isnt even the half of it (as worrisome as that is). these jerks long ago could have smuggled into Tokyo or Osaka any WMD ie VX, sarin, anthrax, smallpox or dirty bomb form, and through their highly developed network of espionage and sabotage officers from North Korea in place in Japanese society, they can easily stage an internal trojan horse attack with devastating consequences, even if we and Japan killed those Taepodongs in their coastal cribs. the agents are just waiting to be activated by the security services of the Korean Workers Party, on Kim's direct orders (they have a good track record in Burma and over the Andaman Sea).

[Pining_4_TX]

Don't listen to AmericaninTokyo. I thought your comment was great!

[Pining_4_TX]

Are you saying don't move to Alaska?

[biblewonk]

Pretty light war with most of the world shaking in their shoes saying "Can't we all just get along".

[phasma proeliator]

"North Korea = China

While I agree, I would nevertheless like to see this tested. The United States needs to make it clear that continued MFN status will require China to take all diplomatic and economic measures necessary for NK to dismantle its WMD programs.

I don't believe that China would comply, so this would be an excellent way of closing the door on China and its military build up. But if they do comply, it would solve the short-term problem of NK."

We're living the test right now.
I don't believe that MFN with be withdrawn from the Chinese - it would hurt the U.S. too much economically.

Getting the world, North Korea, Iraq, Syria, etc... under control will require 'control' of China. From my point of view - this can happen one of two ways
1) economical control
2) military control.
As I state above - I don't believe that - at this time - we have the economical option. I clearly believe that we do have a military option - although the 'fall out' from that would be huge. IMHO China is the most dangerous thing in the world to our (American) way of life, and dealing with them would solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Germany, France, etc...

Bring down that wall Mr. President.

[katana]

You're right and that scenario is also the scariest for the U.S., that is WMD's at and through seaports of entry. Another factor is that knowing what the average Japanese thinks of the Korean community to start with, I wouldn't want to be in their (the Koreans') shoes if and when something happens.

It's a multi-faceted threat and the defenses will have to be equally diverse. That's why the attitude of the democrats here is so infuriating. They act as if every step the administration takes is the only one taken, while in fact the effort is on a broad front and will take a long time to develop fully.

Of course, if they hadn't held up funding for the effort for the year and a half they controlled the Senate after 9/11, maybe we'd have made a bit more progress by now.

[Paul Ross]

Sorry, charley. But the North Koreans had a nuke already when they cut the deal with Clinton. Today we believe they have 3-to-6 nukes.

And the really telling evidence (e.g., absolutely conclusive for anyone capable of reasoning, except for Clinton apologists) for the existence of the bomb in their arsenal was the huge effort they made to develop the preferred delivery system for nuclear weapons, i.e., ballistic missiles. And not just any old ballistic missiles, but intermediate range missiles, which, with the addition of an additional stage, relatively easily become ICBMs. They would not have gone to this trouble to develop ICBMs unless they had nuclear devices for payload. CBW and conventional bombs would be an extreme waste/mismatch of resources..and simply do not justify ICBM development for delivery. And just when did we note the North Koreans developing IRBMs which they would not need but for their possessing nukes? You guessed it, during Clinton's reign of error and deceit.

Neville Chamberlain will go down in history as a patriot compared to Clinton.

[Mr. Mojo]

"Calling Monster Island! Mothra! Godzilla! Gidera! Come quick we need your help!"

You forgot Gamera, The Guardian of the Universe.

....my personal favorite.