N. Korea Remains Threat to Japan: Defense White Paper

August 28, 2018

Tokyo- A Japanese government report indicated Tuesday that North Korea remains a threat to Japan, while expressing concerns over China's growing military activities.

North Korea is "an unprecedented, grave and imminent threat" following the reclusive nation's provocative acts last autumn, said the annual defense white paper, submitted by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera to a cabinet meeting.

While appreciating the outcome of the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June, the report said, "There is no change in the basic view (of Japan) on North Korean nuclear and missile threats after the summit."

North Korea possesses and has deployed several hundred missiles that cover most of Japan, the paper noted, showing a stronger sense of crisis than the previous year following its sixth nuclear test in September last year and subsequent ballistic missile launches toward Japan's vicinity.

The paper highly evaluated Kim's pledge in writing to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula completely.

At the same time, it emphasized the ministry's policy of "paying attention to concrete actions by Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons and missiles."

The report expressed acute anxiety about China, saying that its "navy vessels and air power are further expanding their scope of operations including in areas around the Senkaku Islands" in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan. The Japanese-administered East China Sea islands are claimed by China, where they are known as Diaoyu.

The paper stressed the significance of the launch in June of a communication mechanism to avoid unintended clashes at sea or in the sky between the Self-Defense Forces and the Chinese military.

The move was "an important step to promote mutual understanding between Japan and China," it said.

The report pointed to Russia's moves to make the disputed northwestern Pacific islands a military base under de facto occupation, such as through the deployment of ground-to-ship missiles there.

Japan will keep a close tab on moves by the Russian military, the report said, while stopping short of criticizing Russia. Japan claims the Russian-held islands, which were seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II.

The white paper used five pages to discuss the improper handling of daily activity logs of Ground SDF troops dispatched to Iraq and South Sudan, noting that the ministry "has to accept seriously the fact that the issue caused concerns over and distrust in its civilian control."

In February last year, the ministry denied the existence of daily activity reports on the GSDF's 2004-2006 mission in Iraq following a disclosure request by a lawmaker. The logs were found later after then Defense Minister Tomomi Inada's instruction for a new investigation, but the discovery was not reported to Inada and other senior officials.

The ministry pledged in the paper to "make full efforts to regain the trust of citizens," explaining measures to prevent recurrence of a similar problem.

On a cover-up of similar logs of the GSDF mission in South Sudan for U.N. peacekeeping operations between 2012 and 2017, the annual report said the problem reflects "a lack of sufficient awareness of the importance of information disclosure at the ministry and the SDF."

Regarding the national defense program guidelines, to be reviewed by the government late this year, the white paper highlighted the need to improve response capabilities in such new fields as cyberspace and outer space. Jiji Press