25 years ago, on August 31, 1998, a North Korean Taepodong-1 ballistic missile flew over Japan, landing in the country’s east coast in the Pacific, 300 miles east of the island of Honshu, the largest and most populous Japanese island in the country’s center. This test put a national and global spotlight on Missile Defense from North Korea’s real and growing efforts to develop a nuclear ICBM capability. Japan responded, cutting off aid to the rogue country and joining with the U.S. in the development and deployment of a new ballistic missile defense system Aegis BMD and Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to defend against future North Korean ballistic missile attacks. In the U.S., the National Missile Defense Act of 1999  clearly laid out a goal for missile defense technology, that objective being to “deploy as soon as is technologically possible an effective National Missile Defense system capable of defending the territory of the United States against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate)….”  

On Thursday, around 8 am local time, residents in the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Japan were ordered to evacuate due to the North Korean ICBM launch. The missile, a Hwasong-18, first unveiled at a military parade in February, was launched from near Pyongyang at a high angle and traveled 620 miles. The North Korean ballistic missile tested is believed to be using solid fuel, with a mobile launcher. The Hwasong-18  missile did not fly over Japan, flying northeast, falling into the Sea of Japan before it reached Hokkaido. North Korean missile tests all use the Sea of Japan as a target for which to fire at. There have been 7 North Korean missile tests that flew over Japan – the last one being in October 2022. North Korean missile tests that land in and around, over or not over Japan’s economic exclusion zone, regardless of whether they fly over the country, are a major concern for Japan and the United States. China’s deliberate intent not to support UN actions against North Korean nuclear testing and enabling North Korea to continue to test develop and deploy ICBMs and Nuclear Weapons against the United States and Japan took this incident to reinforce its support for North Korea and blame the U.S. and South Korea for escalating. 

There are eight Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force warships equipped with Aegis AN/SPY-1 radars, the Maya, Haguro, Atago, Ashigara, Kongo, Kirishima, Myoko, and Chokai. The U.S.’ Destroyer Squadron 15 and Carrier Strike Group 5, based in Yokohama, maintain 11 total ships equipped with Aegis BMD. The U.S. also maintains two AN/TPY-2 Shariki Communications Site and Kyogamisaki Communications Site for tracking North Korean Ballistic Missiles in the north and south ends of Japan. Japanese PAC-3 Patriot batteries with tracking and fire control patriot radars are spread throughout Japan and Okinawa , with the majority in the center and north of the country. Yokota Air Force Base, home to Japan Air Defense Command, is the central hub for overseeing Japan’s air and missile defense capabilites in partnership with the United States. Open Architecture is required for an integrated missile defense architecture with Japan, South Korea and the United States that can efficiently connect various sensor systems and effectors and share that data across the all the systems benefits all. North Korea ballistic missile defense testing continues to force Allied open architecture for integrated air and missile defense.

These continual non stop North Korean Ballistic Missile testing and development forces the U.S. Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GBI) system to be rapidly more modernized, more effective and more efficient with SLEP (Service Life Extension Program) for all 44 GBIs that are defending the United States Homeland today from North Korea. The Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) must be pushed harder to get developed tested and deployed sooner, to continue matching North Korea’s capacity and  advancements in missile technology. The THAAD battery in Guam has to be at full capacity and an additional US THAAD battery should be deployed to Japan. Japan must develop and deploy an island based missile defense system similar to what the United States is doing with Guam and continue to modernize their sea and land-based interceptors and sensors.