Japan threarens to ask U.S. to launch pre-emptive attack on North Korea

Agence France-Presse via Taiwan News ^ | 2/10/03

[Heartlander2]

Japan will consider imposing sanctions against North Korea if the secretive Stalinist state, at the center of a nuclear standoff, fires a ballistic missile, a report said Sunday.

If a North Korean missile fell on Japanese territory or waters, the Tokyo government would convene an emergency meeting and consult the United States on counter-measures, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said.

The report did not specify what counter-measures could be taken.

But Japanese officials said last month Tokyo could ask US forces to launch a pre-emptive strike on North Korean missile bases if Pyongyang was preparing to fire missiles at its territory.

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said it would be "within the legal framework of self-defense" if Japan asked the US to launch a pre-emptive attack if it had "no defense alternative."

Even if a missile landed outside Japanese territory, Tokyo would still consider imposing sanctions such as freezing aid, the leading daily quoted an internal government paper as saying.

Sanctions could be justified as a missile launch breaches a declaration signed by North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-Il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at a historic summit in Pyongyang last September, the report said.

The declaration said North Korea expressed its intention to continue its moratorium on missile tests beyond 2003.

Japan has twice been alarmed by North Korean missile launches.

In 1998, Pyongyang sent shockwaves around the world by test-firing a suspected Taepodong-1 missile, part of which flew over Japan's main island of Honshu and into the Pacific.

Earlier, North Korea launched into the Sea of Japan a Rodong-1 missile with a range of 1,300 kilometers (810 miles) in 1993 after testing two types of crude Scud missiles.

The government document said Tokyo would demand Pyongyang halt a missile launch when preparations for firing had been confirmed by such signs as troop movements, according to the daily.

At the same time, the Japanese public would be warned of an imminent missile test, the document added.

On Friday, a leading Japanese defense analyst said North Korea might test-fire this year a long-range Taepodong-2 missile which could be capable of reaching parts of the continental United States.

Hideshi Takesada, a professor at the National Institute for defense Studies, said the hardline Stalinist state had conducted new missile tests every five years.

A Taepodong-2 missile has a range estimated between 3,500 and 6,000 kilometers (2,190 and 3,750 miles).

According to South Korean defense ministry data, North Korea is currently testing Taepodong-1 missiles with a range of 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) and is also developing longer-range Taepodong-2 missiles.

North Korean ambassador to China Choe Kim-Su said last month Pyongyang might resume missile tests after Washington cut off fuel shipments late last year over North Korea's secret nuclear weapons program.

[Williams]

Bravo Japan.

[DoughtyOne]

I would expect the US government is monitoring Chinese military movements near North Korea. I hope we aren't seeing much.

If I were Japan, I'd be on an excelerated path to nuclear weapons development.

[b fair]

Lets give the Japanese a Peacemaker.
But not the one in .44 make this the much bigger one.

[roadcat]

"Even if a missile landed outside Japanese territory, Tokyo would still consider imposing sanctions such as freezing aid, the leading daily quoted an internal government paper as saying."

Looks like Japan is following our lead, "if you don't stop throwing sticks and stones our way, we'll stop giving you our lunch money!". For crying out loud, let's get some balls and quarantine the N.Koreans and cut off everything they need until they give up.

[Nagual]

If the Chinese step in, all we have to do is stop buying "Made In China" junk and start making our own junk. If we, the best market on earth don't buy their junk, they will have to go back to their old worn out communist ways.

[DoughtyOne]

Agreed.

[DoughtyOne]

Agreed.

[KickRightRudder]

What they should do is put an Aegis destroyer in position, shoot the missile down, and this alone would scare the sh#% out of the North Koreans. Next comes the navel blockage. When the war begins in earnest, we fire bomb the 11000 artillary positions.

News reports today that we're working on a bomb > 15000 pounds! Its a Daddy of Daisy Cutter!!

[DoughtyOne]

Well I'd rather see nation X retaliate against Japan than the US. So I'd rather see Japan able to defend itself.

[RightWhale]

If the Chinese step in

China should step in and soon. It is not in China's interest to have NK swarmed with American military.

[jerseygirl]

but didn't NK say "sanctions mean war"?

[My2Cents]

We can start by dropping Scott Ritter from 20,000 feet on the North Korean presidential palace.

[agincourt1415]

Got a better Idea, we'll start a LEND LEASE Program with Japan, and lease Japan one of our Trident Subs - maybe we should announce cross training Japanese Naval Personnel on the Sub.

That would get their attention, LOL.

[DoughtyOne]

I would agree those 11 thou missiles have got to go first thing. 3:30a.m. would be a nice time. EMP or netron bombs would be my choice. Those 15000 pound daisy cutters might work well on certain government buildings though. ;)

[DoughtyOne]

Man we sure have a fertile thought process going on here. ;)

[agincourt1415]

Hey you never know when Rummy might like one of our suggestions. LOL.

Wolf take note of this Thread.

[Arkinsaw]

China should step in and soon. It is not in China's interest to have NK swarmed with American military.

China has been arranging its diplomacy to be the regional leader. Part of that sort of leadership is controlling your friends. If China cannot even guarantee its neighbors that it can keep its little buddy stable then why should they start looking at China as the regional leader? North Korea even had the guts to tell China to mind its own business recently. Right now China looks like its afraid of North Korea.

[sam_paine]

But Japanese officials said last month Tokyo could ask US forces to launch a pre-emptive strike on North Korean missile bases if Pyongyang was preparing to fire missiles at its territory.

HA! Is it just me or does this sound like the diplomatic version of, "...OH YEAH....well if you DO...then my BIG BROTHER will beat you up!!"

[The Duke]

If the Chinese step in, all we have to do is stop buying "Made In China" junk and start making our own junk. If we, the best market on earth don't buy their junk, they will have to go back to their old worn out communist ways.

Well, if we don't buy the junk from China I can guarantee you it'll be from Mexico. A national economy is like an auto engine that only runs well with the right ratio of fuel and air, and until our leaders come to understand that blindly adding more fuel is not going to yield the most desirable results we, and the rest of the world, will be stuck in an unstable and uncomfortable economic situation.

Of course my analogy assumes that our national leaders aren't all crooks with offshore accounts being padded by offshore businesses, and I really don't believe that. At some point, however, the tables will turn and our leaders will need American businesses to pad those accounts - that's when you'll see protectionist measures suddenly come into vogue once again.