(Bloomberg) -- Japan has serious concerns about North Korea’s developments in ballistic missiles as Kim Jong Un rolls out a new array of nuclear-capable weapons to attack his neighbors, according to the annual defense white paper.
North Korea has diversified its equipment system and improved its nuclear missile ability by securing information gathering, alert monitoring and reconnaissance means, according to the paper released on Friday by the Ministry of Defense.
Over the past several months, Kim’s regime has tested a new intermediate range ballistic missile that can hit all parts of Japan. It’s designed to deploy a nuclear-capable warhead that can glide at high speeds and change course to avoid US-operated interceptors in the region.
Pyongyang has also fired short-range ballistic missiles at distances that could hit several major Japanese cities that conducted detonations of mock-nuclear devices. North Korea has long considered Japan one of its mortal enemies and has threatened to “sink” its neighbor “into the sea” with atomic strikes.
While North Korea has often used heated rhetoric, concerns of a possible conflict were raised at the start of the year when Kim said he was striking the idea of peaceful reunification with South Korea and he has the right to annihilate his neighbor. Japan, which hosts tens of thousands of US military personnel to respond to a contingency on the Korean Peninsula, could find itself in the firing line if a new conflict erupted.
Kim has been supplying Russia with munitions and missiles for President Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, Japan, the US and others have said. In return, they said Kim is likely receiving aid that props up his economy and military technology that increases the security threat he poses to the region. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the accusations.
Japan is in the middle of implementing a historic defense build-up to fend off rising geopolitical threats from the likes of North Korea. The government has secured 42% of ¥43.5 trillion ($273 billion), a sum that Tokyo aims to spend in the five years through March 2028 to add more missiles and fighters to its self-defense forces, according to the paper.
About ¥8.9 trillion yen has been set aside for the plan in the current fiscal year, equaling 1.6% of the nation’s economic output, according to the report. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aims to increase the ratio to 2% to be in line with NATO targets.
The report comes as Kishida attends the NATO summit along with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington. Earlier in the week, North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies offered more air-defense systems for Ukraine following a Russian air barrage that killed more than 40 people, including at a children’s hospital.
Kishida, whose public support remains low, may face even stronger headwinds against raising taxes to pay for the defense needs, following a series of recent scandals. The defense ministry is investigating reports that Kawasaki Heavy Industries faked transactions tied to submarine repairs for the government and the funds were used on improper purchases and gifts.
Meanwhile, Japan aims to make weapons procurement more efficient and scrutinize expenses as inflation and a weak yen increase cost pressures, the paper said. The yen, hovering around its lowest level since 1986 against the dollar, makes imports of weapons and their parts more expensive, exacerbating the pain of persistent inflation.
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