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Agencies

Japan’s Defence Ministry has asked for a record-high budget for fiscal 2018 to bolster missile defences against North Korea’s escalating threats.
The 5.26 trillion yen (US$48 billion) request announced on Thursday, is a 2.5 per cent increase from the previous budget. A big chunk of it will be spent on missile interceptors.
The request comes amid growing fear about North Korea’s missile threat and rising tensions between the US and North Korea.
On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired a missile that flew over Japan and landed in the northern Pacific Ocean. It tested two intercontinental missiles in July and threatened to fire missiles near the US colony of Guam, where Washington has military bases.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Tuesday’s missile firing an “unprecedented, grave and serious threat”.
Visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May said the leaders “condemn North Korea in the strongest words possible”.
On Wednesday, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera, an advocate of bolstering Japan’s missile and strike capability, said Tokyo must quickly upgrade its missile arsenal.
The ministry was also wants to add the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defence system and is considering the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD).

If approved by parliament, it would be the sixth annual increase under Abe, who ended decade-long defence budget cuts.
Presently, the Maritime Self-Defence Force’s destroyers, equipped with the Aegis combat system and Standard Missile-3 interceptors, are tasked with stopping missiles in the outer atmosphere. If they fail, the Air Self-Defence Force’s ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors will counter the attack in the lower tier.
Aegis Ashore uses similar components to those fitted on MSDF Aegis destroyers, but is expected to reduce the workload of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces members in missile intercept operations because the system will be permanently installed on land.
Experts say around two Aegis Ashore units would be enough to cover the entire land mass of Japan. The system is made by Lockheed Martin Corp.
The ministry also sought 19.6 billion yen as costs to work towards the development of a new radar system with improved abilities to detect and track missiles.
Before the planned deployment of Ground Self-Defence Force units tasked to guard Japan’s far-flung islands, the ministry sought 55.2 billion yen that includes funds for building barracks and other facilities on Miyako Island and Amami-Oshima Island.




The ministry also said it wants to set aside 10 billion yen to study technologies to create high-speed glide bombs, a longer-range weapon which it says would be useful for operations to retake invaded remote islands.
Another 7.7 billion yen is also requested for research on anti-ship missiles also for the purpose of island defence.
The ministry asked for 88.1 billion yen to acquire six F-35 stealth fighter jets and 45.7 billion yen for four Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
With Japan and the US using satellites to check on missile threats and other purposes, the ministry demanded 4.4 billion yen to design a space observation system that would protect the satellites from harmful space debris and other satellites.

The defence ministry’s budget request came as May visited the Japanese warship Izumo with Onodera at a naval base in Yokosuka.
“My visit today is a sign of the growing cooperation and partnership that we have on defence matters,” she said.
The British leader was on the second day of a three-day visit to Japan that is focusing on Brexit, trade and North Korea.
“Prime Minister Abe and I had agreed to work together and with others in the international community to strengthen pressure against North Korea including by increasing the pace of sanctions,” she told a press conference.

Abe said the North’s missile tests prove it is now a “global threat”.
“Almost all of Europe is within striking range of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles,” he said.
May pointed to the key role that China can play in pushing for change.
“Now we need to ensure it’s not just words of condemnation, but that action is taken, and China does have a particular position in this,” she said. “They have leverage on North Korea, and I believe we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage.”
Earlier Thursday, Beijing slammed a report that suggested the US, Japan and Britain were planning fresh punitive measures against the North, saying calls for sanctions were “destructive” and “cannot fundamentally resolve the issue”.
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Kyodo


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North Korea nuclear crisis

Missiles, radar, glide bombs: Japan wants record US$48b weapons budget as North Korea threat grows

If approved by parliament, it would be the sixth annual increase under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who ended decade-long defence budget cuts

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (podium L) and Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera (podium R) review the honour guard during their visit to Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)'s helicopter carrier Izumo at JMSDF Yokosuka base in Yokosuka on August 31, 2017. May arrived in Japan on an official visit on August 30 with an eye to soothing Brexit fears and pushing ahead on early free-trade talks with the world's number three economy. / AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS / JAPAN POOL / Japan OUT

This US Navy file handout photo obtained August 30, 2017 shows the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53)as it launches a Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship's aegis weapons system on June 19, 2014 in the Pacific Ocean. The US military shot down a medium-range ballistic missile target off the coast of Hawaii early August 30, 2017, in a successful test of a missile interception system Japan is seeking to bolster its defense against North Korea. The test was performed by the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the US Navy from the USS John Paul Jones, a guided-missile destroyer, just one day after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan. / AFP PHOTO / US NAVY / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US NAVY/HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) and his British counterpart Theresa May attend a press conference in Tokyo on Aug. 31, 2017. Japan and Britain announced that they will strengthen security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region in a broad range of fields, citing the threat from North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile development. (Pool photo)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

PAC-3 surface-to-air missile interceptors are deployed at the grounds of the Japan Ground Self-Defence Forces Kaita base. Photo: AFP

Let Japan develop nuclear weapons to lessen North Korea threat, former US Navy commander says

The suggestion of a nuclear-armed Japan would prompt China to restrain Pyongyang, said John Bird, a former US Navy commander in the Pacific

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 (Mars-12) in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 15, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

FILE - In this April 27, 2017, file photo, U.S. Army soldiers install their missile defense system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, at a golf course in Seongju, South Korea. America's top Pacific commander is confident in the ability of a contentious U.S. missile defense system soon to operate in South Korea to shoot down North Korean missiles. (Shon Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP, File)

(170607) -- SEOUL, June 7, 2017 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on April 27, 2017 shows protesters hold banners and shout slogans during a demonstration against the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in Seoul, South Korea. The deployment of THAAD in South Korea was expected to be delayed as President Moon Jae-in ordered a legitimate environmental evaluation over the U.S. missile shield installation. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)(yk)

FILE PHOTO: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) made available on April 26, 2017. KCNA/Handout/File Photo via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) interceptor is test-launched from a location in Alaska in this July 30 file photo. Photo: Reuters

Japan defence review warns of North Korea weapons development and China’s ‘threatening behaviour’ in disputed seas

A member of Japan’s Self-Defence Force stands by a PAC-3 Patriot missile unit in Tokyo. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO:Members of Japan's Self-Defence Forces' infantry unit march during the annual SDF ceremony at Asaka Base, Japan, October 23, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera attends a news conference at Defence Ministry in Tokyo, Japan August 8, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers fly a 10-hour mission from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, escorted by a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jet into Japanese airspace and then over the Korean Peninsula, July 30, 2017. U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Japan to install Aegis missile defence systems on land amid North Korea crisis

A Japanese destroyer equipped with the Aegis radar system, which can track enemy missiles and guide outgoing weapons. Photo: AP

CORRECTION SOURCE A fishing boat (lower) assists in the search for two missing fishermen in the sea after the Japanese Maritime Defence Force's Aegis destroyer Atago (above) collided with a fishing boat, splitting the small vessel into two, off the Pacific coast on February 19, 2008. The 165-metre (545-foot) long Atago destroyer, returning from a visit to Hawaii, crashed into the fishing boat, less than 10 times its size, off the Nojimazaki Cape 80 kilometres south of Tokyo, and left its two crewmen missing. NO THIRD PARTY ARCHIVING AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS

FILE - In this March 6, 2017, file photo, a member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces stands by a PAC-3 Patriot missile unit deployed against the North Korea's missile firing, at Defense Ministry in Tokyo. The Patriots are designed to intercept an incoming missile at its "terminal stage" - just before it hits - if the Aegis' ship-based SM-3 missiles fail to intercept them farther out and higher up, at mid-course. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, April 7, 2012 file photo, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer Chokai, foreground, departs Sasebo naval base, western Japan, in preparation for North Korea's rocket launch, expected to take place mid April, 2012. Amid reports North Korea is preparing a missile launch or another nuclear test, Japan on Tuesday, April 8, 2013 deployed PAC-3 missile interceptors in key locations around Tokyo. Japan's defense minister has also reportedly put destroyers with missile interception systems on alert in the Sea of Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

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If approved by parliament, it would be the sixth annual increase under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who ended decade-long defence budget cuts
