Japan Considers Developing Offensive Capabilities against Threats of N. Korea

On the issue of North Korea’s movement to launch missiles, Japan`s Council on Security and Defense Capabilities, a private advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is creating a great stir by claiming the possibility of taking the offensive posture, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.

According to the paper, the Japanese government is rewriting its defense policy in consideration of China’s strengthening of its forces and North Korea’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons.

The paper also added that Koizumi encouraged the Defense Experts Committee, appointed by himself, to assume a stronger role when Japan carries out international security missions in the future and urged it to develop offensive capabilities in order to respond to immediate threats such as North Korea’s missile launches.

On this regard, the Japanese Defense Agency is pushing a policy of possessing its own offensive weapons that can attack ballistic missile bases located in other nations for the Japanese government`s new National Defense Program Outline which will be revised at the end of this year.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com