Can Japan arm itself?
The Constitution was imposed by the occupying United States in the post-World War II period. Despite this, Japan maintains the Japan Self-Defense Forces, a de facto defensive army with strictly offensive weapons like ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons prohibited.
How capable is the Japanese military?
For 2021, Japan is ranked 5 of 140 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. It holds a PwrIndx* score of 0.1599 (a score of 0.0000 is considered ‘perfect’).
Why is there so much enmity between Japan and North Korea?
Japan annexed the entire Korean peninsula in 1910 and ruled it until the end of World War II. Abuses over this period means enmity remains deep, bolstered by Tokyo’s perceived closeness to Washington. North Korea has admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens in the past, though some believe the true number could be in the hundreds.
How many missiles does North Korea have that can hit Japan?
While North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has more than 1,000 pieces of conventional artillery pointing at South Korea, the 22 ballistic missiles his regime has tested since February have all been fired toward Japan, whose capital Tokyo lies just 800 miles from Pyongyang.
When was Kim Jong un’s secret nuclear shelter built?
Hiroko says that the shelter was installed before the 69th anniversary of the founding of North Korea on Sept. 9. Kim celebrated the 68th anniversary with an underground nuclear test and, given the escalating hostilities, many expected a missile or other provocation to mark the latest occasion.
How big was North Korea’s sixth nuclear test?
Japanese fears have grown more acute after North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 2. The 120-kiloton explosion was around eight times the ferocity of the bombs that devastated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.