◀ Anchor ▶
Japan’s rearmament has become a reality.
It was decided to possess long-range missiles capable of directly counter-attacking the enemy’s mainland, breaking the principle of the Japanese Peace Constitution, which states that only minimal defense is required.
In five years, Japan’s defense budget will grow to double the size of Korea’s, making it the world’s third-largest military power.
Correspondent Hyun Young-joon reports from Tokyo.
◀ Report ▶
Japan has completely overhauled its national security strategy.
The key is the ability to counterattack.
Until now, minimum defense was the rule, but now you can actively attack the enemy’s homeland.
The concept of exclusive defense in the Peace Constitution, maintained for 75 years after the war, has been virtually neutralized without any revision process.
[기시다 후미오/일본 총리]
“With the determination to resolutely fulfill the Prime Minister’s mission to protect the country and the people…”
To this end, it was decided to develop a long-range missile with a range of 1,000 km, targeting parts of China and all of North Korea, but Korea is also within range.
It also confirmed next year’s budget of 2 trillion won, saying it would immediately import 500 American-made Tomahawk missiles with a range of 1,600 km.
Next year’s defense budget also increased by 25% from this year to 65 trillion won, the largest ever.
Five years later, Korea’s defense budget will increase to 10 trillion yen annually, about 95 trillion won, which is about double that of Korea, and will be the third largest in the world after the United States and China.
Public opinion is also gaining strength.
In a Yomiuri Shimbun poll, 68% of Japanese supported strengthening defense capabilities.
[스기하라/회사원]
“Since the world situation is unstable at the moment, I agree with strengthening the defense capacity because it means defending your country alone.”
The problem is funding.
Prime Minister Kishida said he would raise taxes such as corporation tax and tobacco tax, but the opposition party and the ruling party are protesting.
[시바야마 마사히코/의원 (자민당)]
“I’m also curious why that (tax increase) should be included in the year-end tax system.”
“Since the trade deficit and rising inflation have effectively held back the Japanese government’s policy of raising taxes at a difficult time for everyone, we have postponed the decision to discuss again next year when the tax will be collected.”
Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protests that Japan still includes the Dokdo territorial claim in its revised national security strategy and has summoned Japanese Ambassador to Korea Kumagai to urge its cancellation.
This is MBC News Hyun Young-joon from Tokyo.
Video Coverage: Kim Jin-ho (Tokyo) / Video Editing: Kim Chang-gyu
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