Last week international media reported that Japan’s military is demanding more resources from policymakers. Can you blame them? According to reports, the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) wants record spending next year to help pay for major upgrades to defenses. The Defense Ministry budget proposal released on 31 August calls for defense spending to rise 2.1 percent to ¥5.3 trillion ($48 billion) for the year starting April 1.
The main reason for the budget increase is to pay for defensive measures against what defense officials say is an increased threat of North Korea to national security. The list of prospective buys over the next fiscal year includes two new ground-based Aegis Ashore radar missile tracking stations built by Lockheed Martin and longer-range Raytheon SM-3 interceptor missiles designed to strike enemy missiles in space. The extra cash is also needed in order to improve the range and accuracy of Japan’s current PAC-3 missiles batteries that are the last line of defense against incoming warheads.
From the Japanese Perspective
When people consider which nation is the most at risk of a DPRK regime gone mad, the typical answer would probably be the country’s southern neighbor, the Republic of Korea. This is certainly true from a perspective of immediacy, that is to say, when assessing who is the closest in range of Pyongyang’s arsenal. But the threat dynamic posed toward South Korea is unique. This is mostly because of the “insurance policy” of a rather large American army deployed along the country’s northern border. It’s not that the American presence prevents North Korea from attacking the South. On the contrary, DPRK has conducted numerous small-scale operations across the border over the years. The point is that everyone understands there are protocols set up for American military assets to respond in the event of a flare up. And this maintains an element of clear deterrent. In addition, if North Korea wants to harass the South, it has low-scale ways of doing so. Probably dozens of skirmishes, including artillery exchanges and maritime altercations, have taken place between the two countries in the six decades since the Korean War.
Conversely, Japan has a completely different set of assessments to make when weighing the danger of North Korea. There isn’t an American army standing between the two nations. Secondly, Japan is not concerned with a clash between naval frigates or a shootout between ground units. North Korea has essentially one option to get at Japan: to launch ballistic missiles at its population centers. This is a threat that the Japanese actually have to live with on a somewhat regular basis. Since 2007, the country has had in place a national alert system that warns the population whenever a missile is launched from North Korea. The system, which includes loudspeakers and mass-text messaging apparatuses, has been used with increasing regularity in the several years as the frequency of North Korean missile testing has gone up. From the moment the warnings are broadcasted, people in Japanese cities have roughly four to five minutes to find proper shelter before the missile covers the 1,000 kilometers that separates the two countries. This is Japan’s reality.
In light of this, it is hardly surprising that Japan is reacting as it is to the long-term projection of the North Korea threat.
To end on a positive note, it may very well be that Japan’s bolstering of its military is performing an important role in the exchange between North Korea, the United States, and the West at large. With all the gesturing of goodwill and hope for reconciliation, leaders in Pyongyang need to know that its enemies are not capitulating. The preparedness for war goes along hand-in-hand with aspirations for peace.
Hopefully the intended message will be the one delivered to the North Korean leadership.
