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Agence France-Presse

North Korea still poses a “serious and imminent threat”, Japan said on Tuesday in its first annual defence review since tensions eased on the Korean peninsula.
Japan’s 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China’s rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking “strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan”.
In response, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “It is extremely irresponsible [for Japan] to accuse China’s normal national defence construction and military activities.
“Japan should not seek various excuses for its expansion of armaments.”
Last year’s defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North Korea, amid nuclear and missile tests and with US President Donald Trump threatening to rain down “fire and fury” on Pyongyang if it kept up its threats.

But since then, a spectacular diplomatic detente has taken place, culminating in the historic summit between Trump and the North’s leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12.
Nevertheless, Tokyo insisted on Tuesday: “There is no change in our basic recognition concerning the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles.”
Two months after Trump-Kim summit, North Korea hasn’t changed at all
Pyongyang continues to post “an unprecedentedly serious and imminent threat to Japan’s security and [to] significantly damage the peace and security of the region and the international community”, according to Tokyo.
Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera acknowledged in the document that North Korea had begun dialogue with former foes the US and South Korea.

“But we cannot overlook the fact that, even to this day, it possesses and fully deploys several hundred missiles that put nearly all of Japan within range,” stressed the minister.
In response, Japan is steadily upgrading its capacity to shield the nation from the North’s arsenal, including a plan to spend some US$4.2 billion over the next three decades on installing and operating US radar systems.
Abe’s nuclear disaster: why has Japan been shut out of North Korea talks?
The defence ministry is expected later this week to request a record 5.3 trillion yen (US$47.6 billion) for the budget for the financial year starting from April.
Despite the historic handshake in Singapore, there has been little progress in denuclearising the Korean peninsula and Washington-Pyongyang relations appear to have taken a turn for the worse, with Trump abruptly scrapping a planned visit to the North by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The white paper also reiterated Japan’s worries about China’s increasing military spending and expanding naval ambitions.
It complained that Beijing was trying to “change the status quo by coercion”, referring to such actions as building up disputed islands in the South China Sea and expanding naval activities around East China Sea islands disputed with Japan.
‘A masterful victory’ for Kim Jong-un: North Koreans in Japan on peace talks
The white paper drew ire from Seoul by repeating Tokyo’s long-standing claim of sovereignty over islands which Japan calls Takeshima. The islands are controlled by South Korea, which calls them Dokdo.
“The Japanese government must bear in mind that repeating such unjustifiable and groundless allegations over Dokdo will not be helpful at all in building forward-looking relations between the two countries,” the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Kyodo


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Japan

North Korea ‘most serious and pressing threat’ Japan faces: defence ministry report

North Korean soldiers in Pyongyang. Photo: AP

FIE - In this Aug. 29, 2017, file photo, members of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) demonstrate the PAC-3 surface to air interceptors at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in Fussa, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Japan’s annual defense review says North Korea poses a serious threat to Japan since it hasn’t taken concrete steps to scrap its nuclear program after making a denuclearization pledge at a summit with the U.S. in June. The defense paper approved Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, by the Cabinet said Japan must add costly missile defense systems to be fully prepared while watching if North Korea keeps its promise. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - This Aug. 29, 2017, file photo by the North Korean government shows what was said to be the test launch of a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile in Pyongyang, North Korea. Three weeks after the U.S.-North Korea summit and ahead of an impending trip to North Korea by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a leaked U.S. intelligence report and an analysis of satellite data suggest the North may be continuing its nuclear and missile activities despite a pledge to denuclearize. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

FILE - In this June 12, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island, in Singapore. Japan’s annual defense review says North Korea poses a serious threat to Japan since it hasn’t taken concrete steps to scrap its nuclear program after making a denuclearization pledge at a summit with the U.S. in June. The defense paper approved Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, by the Cabinet said Japan must add costly missile defense systems to be fully prepared while watching if North Korea keeps its promise. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File )

Abe-Kim meeting on ice until Japan acknowledges colonial past, says prominent North Korean

Abe has been anxious to meet Kim since the North Korean leader met South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump earlier this year. Photo: Kyodo

epa06695718 South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) talk prior their summit meeting at the Peace House on the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, 27 April 2018. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are meeting at the Peace House in Panmunjom for an inter-Korean summit. The event marks the first time a North Korean leader has crossed the border into South Korea sine the end of hostilities during the Korean War. EPA-EFE/KOREA SUMMIT PRESS POOL / POOL

In this March 26, 2018, photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center right, and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, center left, inspect the honor guard at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. North Korea's leader Kim and his Chinese counterpart Xi sought to portray strong ties between the long-time allies despite a recent chill as both countries on Wednesday, March 28, 2018, confirmed Kim's secret trip to Beijing this week. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

JAPAN - JULY 07:  Center for Korean-American Peace Executive Director Kim Myong-Chol speaks to the media at the Foreign Press Club in Tokyo, Friday, July 7, 2006. Bloomberg

North Korea halts work to dismantle rocket launch site, says US group 38 North

This satellite image from August 3 shows facilities being dismantled at the Sohae satellite launch site. The group 38 North believes the activity has stopped. Image: EPA

North Korea enjoying tourism boom after summit between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in in April

Chinese tourists on a boat near the shores of North Korea. Photo: Reuters

Visitors take a look from North Korean side while US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and South Korean Defence Minister Song Young-Moo visit at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between North and South Korea on October 27, 2017. Mattis is on a two-day visit to South Korea for attending the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) amid North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / JUNG YEON-JE

FILE - In this May 26, 2018, file photo, provided by South Korea Presidential Blue House via Yonhap News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in embrace each other after their meeting at the northern side of the Panmunjom in North Korea. (South Korea Presidential Blue House/Yonhap via AP, File)

North Korea ‘has detained a Japanese tourist visiting the country’

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been hoping to arrange his own summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. No date for him to meet Kim has yet been set. Photo: Kyodo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) meets with Sakie Yokota (L), whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea in 1977, and Shigeo Iizuka, leader of a group representing abductees' families, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on June 14, 2018.(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Annual report also outlines security concerns about China’s growing military might and Russia’s intent to rebuild its power that paint a picture of Japan surrounded by potential adversaries


Annual report also outlines security concerns about China’s growing military might and Russia’s intent to rebuild its power that paint a picture of Japan surrounded by potential adversaries.


North Korea

North Korea nuclear crisis

Kim Jong-un