Sunday’s performance in Yokosuka in Japan, with a total of 38 naval vessels from 19 nations, was a good opportunity to showcase military strength.
The timing was not accidental.
It’s only been three days since residents of several prefectures were told to take shelter indoors after North Korea launched one long-range ballistic missile and two short-range missiles.
Since October, the country has been accused by the United Nations of stepping up weapons testing.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s speech during the demonstration was unmistakable: Japan must be more prepared.
– We must prepare to stand up to those who break the rules and want to use force to destroy the peace and security of other nations, according to the Reuters news agency.
Kishida also followed concrete plans:
– We will develop a new national security strategy by the new year and drastically improve our defense capabilities.
Increased tensions
Kishida’s party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), plans to increase the defense budget to two percent of GDP within five years.
Furthermore, it is no coincidence that South Korea was among the 18 allied countries that took part in the exhibition.
Together with the United States, they conducted the Vigilant Storm air defense exercise this week – the largest they have held together – in response to North Korea’s increasingly frequent weapons tests. Several hundred South Korean and American planes participate.
The two countries have warned that the numerous missile tests that North Korea has carried out recently could end with the country also carrying out a nuclear test.
On Friday, South Korea sent more fighters in response to what it called the mobilization of 180 North Korean warplanes.
North Korea: – Aggressive and provocative
Exercises like Vigilant Storm have long angered Pyongyang, which sees them as evidence for invasion.
Vigilant Storm is an aggressive and provocative military exercise against North Korea, and the United States and South Korea could risk having to pay the cruellest price in history if they continue, Pyongyang said.
Tension on the Korean peninsula was again on the agenda of the UN Security Council on Friday, but the 15 members failed to agree on a response. It is China in particular that stands alongside North Korea.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield rejected North Korea’s criticism of the exercise, saying it posed no threat to any other country.
