Though Pyongyang has posed increased security concerns for Japan in recent weeks, the island country’s annual defense report has listed Beijing as its number one threat to national security.
The annual “Defense on Japan” report, notes that China’s continued ability to “reinforce its military capabilities both in quality and quantity” and intensified activities within the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean have garnered increased attention from Tokyo.
China is deploying air and sea assets in the Western Pacific and through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan with greater frequency.
These military actions and China’s “strengthening capabilities” in the areas of both space and cyberspace have led Tokyo to deem Beijing its number one security threat, as it possesses the ability to “fulfill its unilateral demands without compromise.”
This release comes days after Japan revealed that both its Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis-equipped destroyer in the Sea of Japan and land-based radar had difficulty detecting recent tests missile tests conducted by North Korea.
North Korea’s “state-of-the-art” KN-23 short-range ballistic missile, which can reach regions of Japan, was one particular projectile that caused alarm due to its irregular trajectory, which allows the missile to evade current Japanese radar systems.
The most recent display of this degradation in relations came with Seoul’s August 22 decision to unilaterally terminate the 2016 General Security of Military Information Agreement between South Korea and Japan.
Kim You Geun of South Korea’s National Security Council told the public that the move came as a response to Japan removing South Korea from its list of preferred trading partners.
Sputnik/ ABC Flash Point News 2019.
