Japan wants to deploy land-based US Aegis missile shield in Akita to guard against N Korea threat

The government has installed two Aegis Ashore batteries to protect the entire Japanese archipelago against North Korea’s missile threats, and now wants to put more in the city of Akita

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Japan Self-Defence Forces stands by a PAC-3 Patriot missile unit in Tokyo. The government is considering deploying more US missile systems in the north to guard against conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Photo: AP

Published: 5:17pm, 1 Jun 2018Updated: 8:38pm, 1 Jun 2018

The defence Ministry said Friday it hopes to start deploying the US land-based Aegis Ashore missile defence system in the city of Akita, northern Japan, with a senior official noting the need to boost the country’s missile defence capabilities amid the unpredictable situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Parliamentary Vice Defence Minister Tatsuo Fukuda told Akita Governor Norihisa Satake and Akita Mayor Motomu Hozumi that the ministry wants to start surveying the Ground Self-Defence Force’s training area in Akita’s Araya district, describing the site as “most suitable” for the planned Aegis Ashore deployment in fiscal 2023.

The government decided in December to install two Aegis Ashore batteries to protect the entire Japanese archipelago against the North Korean missile threat and has selected the site in Akita along with the GSDF’s Mutsumi training area in Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, as candidate sites.

Japan Air Self-Defense Force demonstrates a training to utilize the PAC-3 surface to air interceptors at the US Yokota Air Base on the outskirts of Tokyo. Photo: AP

Both sites are on the Sea of Japan – also known as the East Sea – coast facing the Korean Peninsula.

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