Japan destroyer leaves port reportedly to escort US warships
A Japanese naval destroyer left port Monday on a reported mission of escorting U. S. military ships off the coast as Japan tries to increase its military role amid heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.
The helicopter carrier Izumo departed from the Yokosuka port near Tokyo in the morning.
The destroyer was to meet up and escort a U. S. supply ship in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo later Monday, a new mission under the new security legislation allowing Japan’s military a greater role in overseas activity, according to Japanese media reports. They said that the U. S. supply ship is expected to refuel other American warships, including the USS Carl Vinson strike group, currently in the region.
Japan’s defense ministry only said that the Izumo left Monday to eventually participate in an international naval event in Singapore on May 15.
