Tag: Japan

The Russians are actually more angry at the Japanese for trying to defend themselves than at the North Koreans which are the only reason the Japanese are spending so much money on missile defense in the first place:

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov on Saturday accused the United States of violating a key arms treaty by selling a missile defence system to Japan.

“The US is deploying them (missile defence systems) at their military bases in Romania and Poland, that is near our western borders, which goes against the 1987 INF Treaty banning the deployment of such systems on the ground,” Ryabkov said in a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

“The fact that such complexes could now appear on Russia’s eastern borders creates a situation that we cannot ignore in our military planning,” said Ryabkov.

On Thursday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the deployment of the US missile defence system would have a negative impact on relations between Tokyo and Moscow.

“We consider the step made by the Japanese side as going against efforts of ensuring peace and stability in the region,” Zakharova said, adding that Moscow has “deep regret and serious concern” over the move.

On December 19, the Japanese government approved the installation of two land-based US-made Aegis Ashore missile defence systems to defend the country against North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link.

One of the stupidest disputes in Asia continues:

South Korea on Thursday began a two-day military exercise for the defense of Dokdo, a set of rocky islets in the East Sea to which Japan lays territorial claim.

“The Navy will conduct the regular Dokdo defense exercise aimed at preventing the infiltration of external forces into the South Korean territory in conjunction with a flotilla-level field exercise by the Navy’s First Fleet,” according to the Navy. The First Fleet is based in the East Sea.

The exercise is conducted twice a year and involves the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force and police. Navy destroyers, fighter jets and patrol aircraft are participating in the drill, the Navy said.

The exercise immediately drew an angry reaction from Japan, just as past exercises have done. Japan has long claimed the islets, which lie closer to South Korea than Japan, a fact that causes diplomatic tension with South Korea.

The Tokyo filed a protest with Seoul, saying the exercise is “unacceptable,” Japan’s Kyodo News reported, quoting a senior official.  [Yonhap]

So basically the ROK military is exercising for something that is never going to happen because the Japanese are not going to invade Dokdo and the Koreans know that.  This is basically just a public relations stunt for domestic political consumption.  With that said I think the Japanese government would be better served by just keeping quiet instead of criticizing all things Dokdo related.

The Dokdo public relations stunt I want to see is to have the ROK government bring Flag Eater Man,  Finger Chopping Lady, Knife in the Gut Man, Weed Killer Man, the Dokdo Riders, and Bee Man all to Dokdo in a combined display of ROK patriotism.

When it comes to the comfort women issue the Moon administration has made it clear that there will be no compromise with Japan:

South Korea’s previous government of ousted President Park Geun-hye kept part of a 2015 deal with Japan on resolving the issue of wartime sexual slavery secret from the public in order to avoid criticism of concessions made to Tokyo, a task force said Wednesday.

After months of looking into how the unpopular deal was reached, the foreign ministry task force also said that the Park administration failed to make adequate efforts to listen to victims before reaching the agreement.

It called for the government to come up with a longer-term approach to resolve such a historical matter as the so-called comfort women issue, saying that “give-and-take” negotiations or political compromise could not be the ultimate solution.

“A victims-centered approach, which has become the norm when it comes to the human rights of women in time of war, has not been sufficiently reflected and the deal was reached through give-and-take negotiations like an ordinary diplomatic agenda” the task force said in its 31-page report on the outcome of its review.

“The agreement was finalized mostly based on government views without adequately taking into account the opinions of victims in the process of negotiation,” it added.

The findings are expected to make the already unpopular deal even more so, and could spark stronger calls for renegotiation, a move sure to strain relations between the two neighboring countries.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but according to the article despite the supposed anger of the comfort women with the agreement, 36 out of 47 of them took the compensation money from Japan.

With that all said when is the Korean government going to demand that China apologize and pay compensation for all the Koreans they killed and their near success of destroying the Republic of Korea during the Korean War?  That is more recent history then the World War II era comfort women issue.

If anyone is wondering why Korea is considering the purchase of F-35B’s to field on their helicopter carriers here is your answer, keeping up with the Abe’s:

In what could be a major change in Japan’s policy on aircraft carriers, the Defense Ministry is mulling a plan to buy F-35B stealth fighter jets for use on its helicopter carriers, government sources said.

The introduction of F-35Bs, which have short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) capability, will be useful in countering China’s growing maritime assertiveness. They are expected to bolster Japan’s ability to defend far-flung islands in the southwest, where only short runways exist, the sources said Sunday.

The move, however, is likely to trigger a backlash from China and Japan’s other neighbors because it could be viewed as contradicting Japan’s so-called “exclusively defense-oriented policy” under the pacifist Constitution.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has altered the nation’s postwar security policy over the past few years, most notably through new security laws that largely expand the range of activities permissible by the Self-Defense Forces.

Under its strictly defense-oriented policy, Japan has maintained that it cannot possess “attack aircraft carriers,” saying the vessels can be deemed offensive weapons that exceed the minimum capacity Japan needs for self-defense in light of the Constitution.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force has a fleet of flat-topped destroyers known as helicopter carriers. Its largest Izumo-class carriers are 248 meters long and can carry up to 14 helicopters.

F-35Bs can operate from existing helicopter carriers once modifications are made to the bow, deck and other areas, the sources said. These modifications will allow destroyers, new or old, to function as small aircraft carriers.  [Japan Times]

You can read more at the link.

Members of a Japanese organization that dislikes Korea stage a protest near the Korean Culture center in Tokyo on Dec. 19, 2017, when South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was visiting it to inspect a Korea-Japan photo exhibition there. (Yonhap)

Considering that Japan already has the SM-3 missile fielded on their Aegis ships the acquisition of Aegis Ashore batteries makes since over competing ballistic missile defense systems such as THAAD:

The Japanese government is pushing ahead with plans to boost its missile defenses in response to the growing threat from North Korea.

The nation’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved the acquisition of two Aegis Ashore systems capable of defending the entire country against incoming missiles.

“North Korea’s nuclear and missile development has become a more serious and imminent threat to our security, entering in a new phase,” a Cabinet statement said. “It is necessary to drastically expand our ballistic missile defense capability in order to continuously and persistently protect our country even during normal circumstances.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but the 2023 timeframe is reportedly when the batteries will be in place.  So this is definitely not a near term mitigation to North Korea’s ballistic missile threat.

The Marines are lucky this window did not hit a kid at the school.  Could you imagine the protests that would have happened if some kid at the school was killed by this window?  Fortunately no one was injured by this negligence:

The Marine Corps says human error caused a helicopter window to fall onto the grounds of a crowded elementary school last week on Okinawa.

The incident occurred Wednesday morning when a CH-53E Super Stallion’s window inexplicably became separated from the aircraft and landed on Futenma Daini Elementary School’s sports field, which is adjacent to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma’s fence line. More than 50 schoolchildren were playing at the time, and one boy was slightly injured from a pebble that flew up during impact.

The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing has completed a “thorough” investigation into the incident and determined it was caused by human error, officials said a statement released Monday evening.

The window, which was not properly secured before takeoff, was designed to be removed so that the crew can evacuate during an emergency, the statement said.

Marine officials said they have conducted additional training for both air and maintenance crews to reinforce proper procedures. Also, all CH-53E aircraft have been thoroughly inspected and checked for mechanical or structural issues with the windows.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but really this incident should serve as an example of why the Marines are trying to move Futenma to the northern part of Okinawa away from the major population center of the island.

It looks like the fishing boats that don’t become “ghost ships” have become a major nuisance for the Japanese Coast Guard:

The Japan Coast Guard wages a constant battle to chase North Korean fishing boats from Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

From July, it began using water cannons on a regular basis to warn such boats to leave, but those efforts seem to have had little effect.

Instead, the number of boats operating in Japanese waters has increased, as well as those washing ashore, sometimes with dead crew members.

On Dec. 15, the coast guard released photos and video footage of its relentless campaign to rid Japanese waters of the unwelcome visitors.

The photos and videos released were taken between September and November in the Yamatotai fishing ground located about 400 kilometers west of Akita Prefecture’s Oga Peninsula.  [Asahi Shimbun]

You can read more at the link.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in visits the Provisional Government of Korea in Chongqing, China, on Dec. 16, 2017, where independence fighters fought against the Japanese occupation of Korea. (Yonhap)

Just another example of the horrors the Kim regime has brought on the North Korean people:

A fishing deal between North Korea and China could be why dozens of boats containing dead bodies have appeared in Japan recently, experts have said.

The Japanese coast guard has found around 50 dilapidated boats believed to be from North Korea — many containing corpses or skeletons — along the country’s western coast since the beginning of November, the Japan Times reported on Tuesday.

The latest discovery came on Wednesday, when officials in Akita found a wooden boat containing partially decomposed bodies, one of which was wearing a badge of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, according to CNN.

The exact reasons behind the phenomenon remain unclear — it could be due to food scarcity in North Korea, as one expert previously told Business Insider, or it could be due to annual quotas imposed on North Korean fishermen.

It could also be because North Korea has sold fishing rights off its west coast to China, forcing fishermen to flock to its east coast near Japan, where sea conditions are too rough for rickety wooden boats this time of year.  [Business Insider]

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the Kim regime sold off their West Coast fishing rights to China for $75 million.