Japan deploys warship, Patriot missiles
TOKYO: Japan deployed its Patriot missile defence system yesterday after North Korea threatened to fire ballistic missiles over the country towards the United States Pacific territory of Guam, local officials and reports said.
Regional tensions are mounting as Washington and Pyongyang ratchet up their war of words, with President Donald Trump warning Pyongyang would “truly regret” any hostile action against the US.
Japan had in the past vowed to shoot down North Korean missiles or rockets that threatened to hit its territory.
The Defence Ministry deployed the Patriot Advanced Capability3 (PAC-3) system in Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi in western Japan, which North Korea had warned could be along its missiles’ flight path.
It also deployed the anti-missile system in neighbouring Ehime, while the Asahi Shimbun said one Aegis destroyer was stationed in the Sea of Japan to shoot down airborne missiles.
Television footage showed military vehicles carrying launchers and other equipment for the surface-to-air system entering a base in Kochi before dawn. AFP