The Japanese government has begun discussing how the Self-Defense Forces would respond to a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula, government sources said, as North Korea continues its weapons program despite international condemnation. The National Security Council will examine specific scenarios such as an inadvertent clash between North and
The Japanese government has begun discussing how the Self-Defense Forces would respond to a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula, government sources said, as North Korea continues its weapons program despite international condemnation.
The National Security Council will examine specific scenarios such as an inadvertent clash between North and South Korean forces, a U. S. pre-emptive strike on the North, an invasion of South Korea by the North, and a North Korean missile landing on Japanese soil, the sources said.
While Japan’s Defense Ministry and other government offices are already studying possible responses by the SDF to such crises, the NSC, chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will lead discussions going forward, they said.
North Korea has continued with ballistic missile tests, claiming with the latest one in November that it is now capable of hitting anywhere in the United States with a nuclear warhead.
The United Nations responded by slapping the reclusive state with tougher economic sanctions that further limit its supply of oil and demanding the repatriation of North Koreans working abroad.
