Posted on 02/26/2003 8:01:12 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
North Korea's developing nuclear threat, and its warlike words, have prompted an unexpectedly tough response from Japan, a nation that appears to be moving away from its post-World War II pacifism at a propitious time.Japan's defense minister told parliament this month that his country would be within its rights to attack North Korea if it were clear that North Korea was preparing to launch a missile at Japan. He repeated his remarks in an interview with Reuters, saying, "Our nation will use military force as a self-defense measure if [North Korea] starts to resort to arms against Japan."
The Washington Post reports that Japan's Defense Agency has stepped up training of special and airborne forces, has put maritime forces on heightened alert, transferred ground forces from the north to western Japan, where they are closer to Korea, and taken other precautionary steps intended to signal determination not to submit to North Korean threats.
Among these moves, two are particularly notable. Two Aegis-equipped destroyers with missile-tracking radar and anti-missile systems are being deployed close to North Korea, the Post reports. And in March, Japan will launch two spy satellites designed to take radar and optical pictures of North Korea.
The launch will mark Japan's first military use of space. Meanwhile, Japanese politicians are beginning to discuss the need to provide anti-missile defenses for their nation, and have even broached the hitherto taboo subject of nuclear armaments for Japan.
These mostly quiet displays of determination came well before North Korea announced last week that it was considering ending the 1953 armistice agreement with the United Nations Command in Korea and restoring a state of war on the Korean peninsula.
Reaction to the latest North Korean bluster was muted in both Japan and South Korea, reflecting the view of both governments, and the United States, that the present tension with North Korea can be ended through diplomacy. But Japan's tough talk serves a useful purpose in putting Pyongyang on notice that threats will not succeed. More than that, it is a timely warning to China, which does not want to encourage military rivalry in Asia.
The Japanese message, although indirect, is clear. If China values Japanese military self-restraint, it must bring its full weight to bear on solving the Korean crisis. It is time for China to drop its current hands-off attitude. North Korea's nuclear quest is not just Washington's problem. If it causes a major military buildup in Japan, that would be a major headache for Beijing.
Ninja pic, anyone?
What's your take on this? What's your assessment of Japan's attitude towards NK at this time?
Thanks. Really appreciate your insight. Beyond a general course in "Asian affairs" in the East Asian Studies Dept. in my university (almost 30 years ago!) I know very little about this part of the world.
I would say that by far North Korea is the most hated nation in the list of countries Japanese regularly feel about.
In lieu of that, the stock of the US has risen, although there is still some strong national sentiment not necessarily in support of the US on Iraq (mostly among young people); most Japanese are resigned to the fact that the USA is the strongest nation, is in a sense the worlds' policeman, and that Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong il are both incorrigible liars.
My assessment is that if North Korea launches a threatening Taepodong long range missile, combined with inflammatory anti-North Korea comments by such politicians as Ishihara and the defense hawks, a large segment of the Japanese population could be 'radicalized' in favor of more aggressive self-defense measures heretofore not thought posssible in pacifist, post-war, US/MacArthur-inspired- Constitution JAPAN.
And you're right. NK and its leadership are just crazy enough to do something really crazy, and they could do a lot of damage before they could be stopped.
Stay safe.
If they do, it is sure to hit one of the front-line MiG-19 fighters that PRNK has.
And they recently "discovered" that some of their plutonium was "missing". Gosh, I wonder where it could have gone.
I believe the National flag (red disc on white background) is referred to by the Japanese as the "Rising Sun" flag. The one with the offset disc and sixteen rays reaching outward is the Naval Jack, which AFAIK has been flown on the vessels and above the navy bases of Japan's Self Defense forces since the early 1950s. There is a Land Defense flag as well, with eight rays from a centered disc and a gold edge.
My father-in-law recently donated a naval flag to the National D-Day Museum, when the Pacific wing opened. He took it off of a flagpole in front of an armory in Sasebo.
Considering their Air Force and Navy are second only to the USA in terms of military power, I'd hardly call that a non-viable military. The JSDF could shred anyone that strolls into their neighborhood .... Koreas (both of them) are in the neighborhood.
They just can't project power across the globe like we can.
AiT, what has been the flavor of any political discussions or man on the street talk on the subject of nukes? Is it still 'Never', or has it turned into 'Maybe' or 'at some point, yes' ? I'm just curious how that topic is floating or sinking in the nation where August 6 is still a national day of mourning...
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