Japan has unveiled a new national security strategy that outlines plans to develop “counterstrike capabilities” and boost defense spending to respond to regional threats like North Korea, in what some view as a departure from its policy focused exclusively on self-defense.
The National Security Strategy (NSS) released Friday states that Pyongyang’s increasing military activities pose a “grave and imminent threat” to national security. It also calls for Japan to develop “counterstrike capabilities” to target enemy territory in the event of an armed attack on Japan with ballistic missiles.
Japan has unveiled a new national security strategy that outlines plans to develop “counterstrike capabilities” and boost defense spending to respond to regional threats like North Korea, in what some view as a departure from its policy focused exclusively on self-defense.
The National Security Strategy (NSS) released Friday states that Pyongyang’s increasing military activities pose a “grave and imminent threat” to national security. It also calls for Japan to develop “counterstrike capabilities” to target enemy territory in the event of an armed attack on Japan with ballistic missiles.
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Shreyas Reddy is a correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. He previously worked as a researcher at BBC Monitoring, where his work focused on news and key people and organizations from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Follow him on Twitter.