Japan Orders Military To Strike Any New North Korea Missiles 107
jones_supa (887896) writes "Japan has ordered a destroyer in the Sea of Japan to strike any ballistic missiles that may be launched by North Korea in the coming weeks after Pyongyang fired a Rodong medium-range missile over the sea. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera issued the order on Thursday, but did not make it public in order to avoid putting a chill on renewed talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang. The Rodong missile fell into the sea after flying 650 km, short of a maximum range thought to be some 1,300 km, which means it could reach Japan. Japanese Aegis destroyers in the Sea of Japan are equipped with advanced radar equipment able to track multiple targets and carry missiles designed to take out targets at the edge of space."
Re:Japan is getting back in the war business (Score:5, Informative)
Uh, hate to break this to you but the US has been selling arms to Japan for decades as part of the 1951 Mutual Cooperation and Security Treaty between the US and Japan. [wikipedia.org]
I think you're referring to the recent change in Japanese policy change that will allow Japanese weapons manufacturers to export weapons. While I'm not a fan of weapons sales it is a business that can't be outlawed unilaterally because even if nations would agree to ban weapons exports and sales to other nations, there will be still nations like North Korea or Cuba [bbc.com] who have a vested interest in selling their own weapons in violation of sanctions imposed by the UN. [reuters.com] If your neighbor next door is ramping up their military in what you believe is going to negatively impact your nation, then you'll look to buy weapons yourself. If you can't buy them through normal channels, you'll buy them from illegal channels and that's where the North Koreans and Cubans come into play. Even the Ukraine [economist.com] has been caught pushing weapons into Africa for example.