Japan Times:
North Korea’s provocative launch of an apparent midrange missile over Hokkaido on Tuesday is likely to give fuel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to bolster the nation’s abilities to defend itself, while also throwing cold water on a return to dialogue, experts say.
The missile, which stoked concern in Tokyo after landing in the Pacific Ocean about 1,200 kilometers east of the northernmost prefecture, comes amid North Korea’s ramped-up pace of missile and weapons tests, including two nuclear detonations last year.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had also threatened Washington and Tokyo earlier this month with a plan to fire missiles into waters surrounding the U.S. territory of Guam. According to that plan, which Kim later backed off, the missiles would have flown over Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi prefectures.
After the North’s two successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July — including one that experts say potentially puts Chicago and Los Angeles within range — U.S. President Donald Trump vowed the following month to rain down “fire and fury” on Pyongyang if it endangered the United States.
But the North’s latest launch, which analysts said was likely toned down after the Guam threat, may have been aimed at exposing the security dilemma the U.S. faces over its alliances with Japan and South Korea, with the technical information gleaned from the firing an added benefit.
“This missile event represents the Trump administration’s first real security test for the U.S.-Japan alliance,” said Michael Bosack, a former deputy chief of government relations for U.S. Forces Japan. “How the U.S. government responds now will send an important message to the Japanese government of what it might expect from the Trump White House when Japan perceives its security to be directly threatened.”
Bosack said Tokyo and Washington would almost assuredly be coordinating responses using the Alliance Coordination Mechanism, which was created to optimize joint planning and established following the publication of new defense guidelines in 2015, “so we should expect synchronized strategic messaging in the near-term.”
He said it was also possible that the government would allocate additional funds for the Self-Defense Forces for bilateral operations in response to Tuesday’s test-firing…
