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NKOREA-JAPAN-DEFENCE
Japan eases North Korea missile alert system: report
TOKYO, July 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Japan has lowered its military readiness
level against North Korean missiles as Washington embarks on delicate nuclear
negotiations with Pyongyang, a report said Sunday, citing multiple unnamed
sources close to the matter.
The report came as Japan finds itself under pressure to soften its hardline
stance against Pyongyang following US President Donald Trump’s landmark
summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month.
Japan’s Self Defense Forces on Friday dropped their programme to always
deploy Aegis warships in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) that detect and
intercept incoming missiles, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
But Japanese forces will remain ready to intercept missiles detected via
spy satellite images, the newspaper said.
Japanese defense officials told the Asahi that Tokyo was following in the
footsteps of the United States, which has already lowered its alert level in
the Indo-Pacific region. Japan has also suspended public evacuation drills
simulating a North Korean missile attack.
Japanese defense ministry officials were not available for immediate
comment.
Japan has long maintained a tight-lipped stance about its exact defense
posture against North Korea, including the locations of the high-tech Aegis
vessels.
As concern has grown in Tokyo about Japan being left on the sidelines in
the diplomatic negotiations with North Korea, hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe last month said that his government has approached Pyongyang to arrange a
summit with Kim.
After his own meeting with Kim, Trump unexpectedly announced plans to
suspend joint military exercises between the US and South Korea that had
previously been seen as a vital measure to contain the North Korean threat.
South Korea’s new president Moon Jae-in also favours a softer approach
towards Pyongyang and has met Kim twice during the recent remarkable detente
on the Korean Peninsula.
But the outlook of the North’s denuclearisation efforts remain unclear at
best, with the Washington Post reporting Saturday that Pyongyang plans to
keep some of its nuclear stockpile and production facilities while
potentially concealing them from the US.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1548 hrs