Japanese magazine mulls invasion of Dokdo/Takeshima islands

A Japanese weekly news magazine has envisaged how Japan's armed forces could go about invading and occupying disputed islands that are presently controlled by South Korea.

The provocative article is printed in the latest edition of the Asahi Geino magazine. It quotes military experts as saying that Japan's military is more than capable of carrying out the invasion and that it could be completed in "a matter of hours".

Despite South Korea's refusal to cede sovereignty of the two rocky islets of Dokdo to Japan - which refers to them as Takeshima - the invasion scenario is highly unlikely. The four-page article, however, is certain to trigger anger in South Korea.

The article points out that South Korea has three times more military personnel than Japan, but defence analyst Motoaki Kamiura told the magazine that a lightning-fast attack by special forces using helicopters would overpower the South Korean police unit presently charged with defending the islands.

A large-scale conventional landing from warships would be difficult because the islands are steep-sided rocky outcrops with only one man-made concrete wharf, although small units could get ashore in inflatable craft.

Kenjiro Kato, another analyst interviewed by the magazine, said any such assault would require Japan to mobilise its entire armed forces, although he was also confident that the outcome would be in Japan's favour.

"The first priority would be to deny the enemy the opportunity to deploy its reinforcements," he said. "The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) is far superior in quality to the South Korean navy and it would be able to seize the initiative."