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NKorea still ‘serious and imminent threat’: Japan
TOKYO, Aug 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – North Korea still poses a “serious and
imminent threat”, Japan said Tuesday in its first annual defence review since
tensions eased on the Korean peninsula.
Japan’s 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China’s rise as a
military power, saying Beijing was sparking “strong security concerns in the
region and international community, including Japan”.
Last year’s defence review was published at the height of the tensions
with North Korea, amid nuclear and missile tests and with US President Donald
Trump threatening to rain down “fire and fury” on Pyongyang if it kept up its
threats.
But since then, a spectacular diplomatic detente has taken place,
culminating in the historic summit between Trump and the North’s leader Kim
Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.
Nevertheless, Tokyo insisted on Tuesday: “There is no change in our basic
recognition concerning the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and
missiles.”
Pyongyang continues to post “an unprecedentedly serious and imminent
threat to Japan’s security and (to) significantly damage the peace and
security of the region and the international community”, according to Tokyo.
Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera acknowledged in the document
that North Korea had begun dialogue with former foes the US and South Korea.
“But we cannot overlook the fact that, even to this day, it possesses and
fully deploys several hundred missiles that put nearly all of Japan within
range,” stressed the minister.
In response, Japan is steadily upgrading its capacity to shield the nation
from the North’s arsenal, including a plan to spend some $4.2 billion over
the next three decades on installing and operating US radar systems.
The defence ministry is expected later this week to request a record 5.3
trillion yen ($47.6 billion) for the budget for the fiscal year starting from
April.
Despite the historic handshake in Singapore, there has been little
progress in denuclearising the Korean peninsula and Washington-Pyongyang
relations appear to have taken a turn for the worse, with Trump abruptly
scrapping a planned visit to the North by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The white paper also reiterated Japan’s worries about China’s increasing
military spending and expanding naval ambitions.
It complained that Beijing was trying to “change the status quo by
coercion”, referring to such actions as building up disputed islands in the
South China Sea and expanding naval activities around East China Sea islands
disputed with Japan.
The white paper drew ire from Seoul by repeating Tokyo’s longstanding
claim of sovereignty over islands which Japan calls Takeshima.
The islands are controlled by South Korea, which calls them Dokdo.
“The Japanese government must bear in mind that repeating such
unjustifiable and groundless allegations over Dokdo will not be helpful at
all in building forward-looking relations between the two countries,” the
South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1235HRS