{"id":33962,"date":"2017-09-02T17:26:25","date_gmt":"2017-09-02T17:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/02\/north-korea-missile-fear-sets-pre-emptive-strike-debate-in-japan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:37:24","slug":"north-korea-missile-fear-sets-pre-emptive-strike-debate-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/09\/02\/north-korea-missile-fear-sets-pre-emptive-strike-debate-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea missile fear sets pre-emptive strike debate in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TOKYO \u2014 Japan is debating whether to develop a limited pre-emptive strike capability and buy cruise missiles \u2014 ideas that were anathema in the pacifist country before the North Korea missile threat. With revisions to Japan\u2019s defense plans underway, ruling party hawks are accelerating the moves, and some defense experts say Japan should at least consider them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After being on the backburner in the ruling party for decades, a possibility of pre-emptive strike was formally proposed to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by his party\u2019s missile defense panel in March, prompting parliamentary debate, though somewhat lost steam as Abe apparently avoided the divisive topic after seeing support ratings for his scandal-laden government plunge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Korea\u2019s test-firing Tuesday of a missile, which flew over Japan and landed in the northern Pacific Ocean, has intensified fear and reignited the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShould we possess pre-emptive strike capability?\u201d liberal-leaning Mainichi newspaper asked the following day. \u201cBut isn\u2019t it too reckless to jump to discuss a \u2018get them before they get you\u2019 approach?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan has a two-step missile defense system. First, Standard Missile-3 interceptors on Aegis destroyers in the Sea of Japan would shoot down projectiles mid-flight and if that fails, surface-to-air PAC-3s would intercept them from within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) range. Technically, the setup can handle falling debris or missiles heading to Japan, but it\u2019s not good enough for missiles on a high-lofted trajectory, those with multiple warheads or simultaneous multiple attacks, experts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pre-emptive strike, by Japanese definition, is a step preceding the two-tier defense. Cruise missiles, such as Tomahawk, fired from Aegis destroyers or fighter jets would get the enemy missile clearly waiting to be fired, or just after blastoff from a North Korean launch site, before it approaches Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan\u2019s self-defense-only principle under the country\u2019s war-renouncing constitution prohibits its military from making a first strike, and officials discussing a limited pre-emptive strike are calling it a \u201cstrike-back\u201d instead. Whichever the language, it further loosens postwar Japan\u2019s pacifist principle and could strain its relations with China, which is suspicious of Tokyo\u2019s intentions. There are gray areas as to how far Japan can go and still justify minimum self-defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some experts are skeptical about how it would work. North Korea\u2019s secretive, diversified and mobile launch system makes it extremely difficult to track down and incapacitate the weapons with Japan\u2019s limited cruise missile attacks, security expert Ken Jimbo at Keio University said in a recent article. A pre-emptive strike capability would also require trillions of dollars to set up spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft, cruise missiles, as well as training of special units, experts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Korea flight-tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July and has threatened to send missiles near the U.S. territory of Guam, home to key military bases. The North already has short-range missiles that cover Japan and possibly has achieved miniaturized nuclear warheads, the Defense Ministry\u2019s annual report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNorth Korea has demonstrated its capability to hit targets anywhere in Japan,\u201d said Narushige Michishita, a defense expert at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. \u201cIt has become even more important for Japan to improve its missile and civil defense capabilities, and seriously think about acquiring limited but meaningful strike capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timing of the pre-emptive strike debate is seen in favor of supporters of the option in the ruling party and the Defense Ministry because they are just starting to revise Japan\u2019s multi-year defense plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abe called Tuesday\u2019s missile firing \u201cunprecedented, grave and serious threat.\u201d Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, an advocate of bolstering Japan\u2019s missile and strike-back capability, said more provocations by the North are likely and Tokyo must quickly upgrade its missile arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\t