The Borneo Post

Japan’s ruling party urges govt to acquire capability to hit enemy bases

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TOKYO: Japan’s ruling party yesterday urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to consider acquiring the capability to hit enemy bases and to beef up missile defence, as North Korea defies UN sanctions with its nuclear and missile developmen­t.

“North Korea’s provocatio­ns have reached a level where our country can by no means overlook them ... We cannot afford to lose any time to bolster our ballistic missile defence,” said a Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) proposal submitted to Abe.

Japan has so far avoided taking the controvers­ial and costly step of acquiring bombers or weapons such as cruise missiles with enough range to strike other countries, relying instead on its US ally to take the fight to its enemies.

But the growing threat posed by Pyongyang, including a simultaneo­us launch of four rockets earlier this month, is adding weight to an argument that aiming for the archer rather than his arrows is a more effective defence.

“Our assessment is that threat from North Korea has advanced to a new stage, and this assessment is shared by the United States,” Abe said at a ceremony where the proposal was submitted. “We intend to grasp today’s proposal firmly.”

The LDP proposal demanded that the government promptly start necessary considerat­ion for the acquisitio­n of capability to hit enemy bases, such as cruise missiles, to improve deterrent effects of the US- Japan alliance.

“The first (missile) attack can be met with our missile defence. But as for repetitive attacks, it is important to put under control the opponent’s launch sites and prevent second and further firing,” Itsunori Onodera, an LDP lawmaker and former defence minister, told the ceremony.

“This is not a proposal about preemptive attacks, but about counter attacks to prevent the second (missile) launch.”

Acquiring weapons capable of reaching Japan’s neighbours would likely anger China, which is strongly protesting the deployment of the advanced US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence ( THAAD) anti- missile system in South Korea.

The LDP proposal also called on the government to swiftly start examining the possible introducti­on of such advanced missile defence systems as Aegis Ashore and THAAD, and to accelerate technologi­cal developmen­t for operating Japan’s own early warning satellites.

Aegis Ashore is a land- based version of the missile defence system used at sea, while early warning satellites are used to detect missile launches. Japan currently relies on the United States for such informatio­n.

Washington- based 38 North, a website that monitors North Korea, said on Tuesday satellite imagery of North Korea’s main nuclear test site taken over the weekend indicated that Pyongyang could be in the final stages of preparatio­ns for a sixth nuclear test.

Successive government­s have interprete­d Japan’s post-World War Two pacifist constituti­on as allowing a military for ‘selfdefens­e’ only. — AFP

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