Japan says North Korea poses 'new level of threat'

Japan's new Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera reviews an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo on August 4, 2017. The minister on Tuesday said North Korea's missile launch has posed a new level of threat. PHOTO | KAZUHIRO NOGI | AFP

What you need to know:

  • North Korea has increasingly been firing missiles into the waters between the two countries and last month launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICMBs), with leader Kim Jong-Un boasting the entire United States was within reach.
  • The UN Security Council at the weekend unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea that could cost Pyongyang $1 billion a year.
  • Mr Onodera was reappointed to the post last week after having served in the position from 2012-2014, he reiterated phrasing from past reports calling the danger from North Korea "significant and imminent"

TOKYO

North Korea's missile development poses a "new level of threat", Japan's defence ministry said Tuesday in an annual report that also reiterated concerns over China's increasing military posture.

"Since last year when it pushed ahead with two nuclear tests and launched more than 20 ballistic missiles, it has posed a new level of threat," Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said in the white paper.
Japan, which lies across the sea from North Korea, has been wary for decades over its missile development as well as Pyongyang's history of abducting Japanese citizens to train its spies.

FIRING MISSILES
North Korea has increasingly been firing missiles into the waters between the two countries and last month launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICMBs), with leader Kim Jong-Un boasting the entire United States was within reach.
While experts and officials doubt the North's missile technology is really that advanced, the country has made steady progress in recent years under President Kim.
Mr Onodera was reappointed to the post last week after having served in the position from 2012-2014, he reiterated phrasing from past reports calling the danger from North Korea "significant and imminent".
"It is conceivable that, over time, the risk will increase for the deployment of ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads that put our nation within their reach," the Japanese-language paper said.
The UN Security Council at the weekend unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea that could cost Pyongyang $1 billion a year.

CHINA-JAPAN BORDER
Japan's white paper also reiterated Tokyo's concerns about China's efforts to expand its military influence and territorial claims, particularly in waters around Japan.
The government has long complained about Beijing's routine dispatch of coastguard ships to Japan's territorial waters surrounding disputed islands in East China Sea.
Tokyo controls the islands as the Sunquake while Beijing claims them as the Diaoyu.
Coastguards from the two sides have engaged in maritime standoffs, while their militaries have also had close calls and experts fear such situations may lead to unplanned clashes.
"Regarding China, we are strongly concerned about its impact on the regional and global security environment as it continues to make unilateral, uncompromising assertions that are incompatible with the existing international order," Mr Onodera said.