Japan says N Korea developing warheads to penetrate missile defenses

The GSOMIA termination came at the perfect time; Japan is now blinded and can't see evasive incoming NK missiles until it is too late to intercept.

This has absolutely nothing to do with GSOMIA. If the missiles can evade interception, it doesn't matter one bit if they are warned now or three days ago.

I can understand that for diplomatic reasons the official statement is the DPRK is "developing" such systems.

Reality is starkly different:

Fact 1: A nation whose hostage citizens survive on a potato a day develops nothing.

Fact 2: The advanced weapons systems of the DPRK all display fresh paint on top of Made in China, and without whose guidance systems couldn't be aimed more accurately than the outhouse next to the lanuchpad.

The missiles can still be intercepted in the terminal phase by SeaRam, PAC-3 and CIWS. More complicated and risky, but not impossible. NK has a long was to develop a cruise missile with surface hugging capabilities like the tomahawk, which can still be defeated by AAguns and nets (as seen in Iraq).

Who's closer to North Korea. Seoul or Tokyo? Can you guess by how many miles?

North has no reason to fire at Japan unless we get involved in the mess called South, North War 2.0

They had war in the past remember? Japan was not attacked by North Korea and Japan was not involved in that war either. Your trying hard to get Japanese to care about GSOMIA and how they should be afraid, scared for their life's Basu.

Spreading fear and hate one comment at a time.

Samit BasuToday  06:55 am JST

*The GSOMIA termination came at the perfect time; Japan is now blinded and can't see evasive incoming NK missiles until it is too late to intercept.*

Perhaps you meant a critical time. Perfect just isn’t the right word. While it’s unfortunate that the labor issue during the colonial period has not been resolved to the satisfaction of South Koreans, I fail to see how the termination of GSOMIA between SK and Japan and its dire consequences as suggested is something ideal.

Sorry to crush your hope.

Why are you linking a previous ICBM launch to that of the recent short range BM??

You really believe that SeaRam and CIWS can shoot down a missile diving at Mach 7~10???? :Facepalm.

The Iskander has a cruising speed of Mach 2 and only reaches Mach 5 at its final terminal velocity. Do you really think NK was able to double its speed?

PAC 3 has sustained speed of Mach 4, and SeaRam Mach 3.

@nigelboy: The ‘new’ missile that NK recently launched are believed to be SS26 Iskander type developed by the Russians

If this is true, that is really ungrateful from Mr Abe's good friend "Mr.Putin"! Stabbing the back of your friend is deplorable!

f this is true, that is really ungrateful from Mr Abe's good friend "Mr.Putin"! Stabbing the back of your friend is deplorable!

If you comprehended what I wrote, the new missile is effective at short range meaning that the target is within Korean Peninsula.

Abe or no Abe, at this point, the Japanese population in general, don’t care what happens in that area.

This is the reason why all NK missile launches head toward Japan and not the ROK, because Japan is the weakest, softest target around Norht Korea.

This is false. The ‘new’ missile that NK recently launched are believed to be SS26 Iskander type developed by the Russians. The tactical advantage is the low trajectory and the ability to maneuver in flight. However, these characteristics can only be efficient on targets that are rather short distance wise. (I.e. South of Korean Peninsula). When it’s targeted longer, it simply operates like any other BM with predictable trajectory.

Many south Koreans do applauding the North of doing this!

Pfft! They're developing it? Or are they just taking credit for weapons being sold to them illegally? Well, they can surely try, but they won't be as successful as some of the brainwashed anti-Japanese on here seem to think. Even if they somehow manage to hit Japan, the consequences will effectively put NK back in the Stone Age. KIm Jong-un might look like a moron, but unlike Trump he's just a hair smarter than he looks. He won't actually attack Japan, he'll just continue flexing and trying to show up the US, taunt them to back up their words with actions. In other words, business as usual.

Looking at this from the local area perspective with the Sea of Japan being the only physical territorial defense parameter for Japan against the now apparently united and double-crossing 4 nations to the North, there is an urgency for Japan not so much to change the Constitution, but to act to "defend".

A shield is good, but the ultimate defense is the knowledge by all sides that an attack will be responded to with very severe consequences for the attacking nation.

NK never attacked anyone.

Geez, then I wonder how the Korean War started...

Try telling that propaganda bunk to the families of the Cheonan sailors, or Yeongpeong island residents. You’d be lucky to return with all your teeth.

Geez, then I wonder how the Korean War started...

A parsed up name, parsed for the sake of adding glory to meddling foreign nations. Clearly that was the Korean Civil War. There is debate on who started it, but one could say since it was Koreans attacking themselves, they did not attack others, and fair enough.

The US and Japan were AT WAR with each at the time in 1945.

North and South Korea are AT WAR right now and have been for over 60 years. When was the last major attack aside from the debatable border skirmish?

Plus, you got to admit, dropping nukes on civilian cities is pretty outrageously aggressive. Its like we get into a fist fight and I go kick your baby in the pram. North Korea has shown restraint. The U.S. has shown it will go medieval and it has also been involved in indefensible attacks and invasions over the 60 years North Korea has done next to nothing.

@nigelboy: the new missile is effective at short range meaning that the target is within Korean Peninsula

Well the North Koreans has demonstrated they were capable to produce "Jumbo Scuds", a bigger scud missile with a smaller payload,longer range,less accurate but still very lethal!  They will make "Jumbo Iskander" type missiles that might have longer range and hit the entire country of Japan!

Why such fatalistic ideas, let's just give up because NK missiles are too hard to intercept? Might as well pay Kim Jong Un annual protection money for not attacking Japan?

Not even remotely close to having anything to do with what I said, but keep it up since most of the commenters here see the inaccuracy of all your statements. I enjoy it.

Like the Chinese, he mistakenly thinks Western powers have designs on his country, when in fact nobody would want it.

> When was it last time that the western countries did not want to take over physically or economically every other country in the world. South Korea and Japan are part of this western slave driving and exploiting "west" .

All the countries surrounding NK have attacked someone at least once, NK never attacked anyone. All of this neighboring potential attackers have missiles and weapons of mass distraction, it is crazy for NK not to want to have them to. Is like a room full of teenagers with everyone having a hammer except the smallest weakest one.

The US has attacked Japan with nuclear weapons.

The US and Japan were AT WAR with each at the time in 1945. Are you implying the US attacked Japan during peacetime?

The DPRK hasn't attacked Japan.

DPRK and Japan are not at war at this time. But DPRK has threatened Japan.

I do hope this region will eventually come together and see who the prime aggressor really is, and always has been. Through violence and/or economic war/threats.

And who was the principal aggressor on June 25, 1950? When the U.S. forces leaves the region, we'll see who the aggressor really is.

Government can say whatever, the nation will not be swayed under a militarization (which mostly includes leading class corruption) just because one rogue nation is trying to stay relevant and all over the news.

I am really angry at South Korea over this. The FACT that they were secretly trading with North Korea , selling technology, against regulations, means NK may have fast tracked this deadly hi-tech Missile, designed to attack Japan.

Now Japan is in the firing line of NK due possibly due to illegal South Korean help.

Now all the world can see clearly, why Japan removed SK from the 27 trusted nations "white list".

@extanker

This has absolutely nothing to do with GSOMIA. If the missiles can evade interception, it doesn't matter one bit if they are warned now or three days ago.

Why such fatalistic ideas, let's just give up because NK missiles are too hard to intercept? Might as well pay Kim Jong Un annual protection money for not attacking Japan?

@AlexBecu

Who's closer to North Korea. Seoul or Tokyo?

The decision on where to strike isn't made based on distance, but which target offers the least blow-back.

Attacking Seoul is a bad idea because the ROK is a ballistic missile superpower that has more ballistic missiles than North Korea.

Japan on the other hand has no ballistic missiles or even cruise missiles can can't retaliate. This is the reason why all NK missile launches head toward Japan and not the ROK, because Japan is the weakest, softest target around Norht Korea.

@BeerDeliveryGuy

The missiles can still be intercepted in the terminal phase by SeaRam, PAC-3 and CIWS.

You really believe that SeaRam and CIWS can shoot down a missile diving at Mach 7~10???? :Facepalm.

@Hillclimber

the next day Pyongyang gets invaded by 30,000 bored, trigger happy US soldiers, right?

30K US troop invasion of North Korea is a suicide mission; The US military won't commit suicide over Japan being hit with ballistic missiles, the max the US will do is counterstrikes on the missile origin. 

It takes at least 700K ground troops to invade North Korea by land.

South Korea can throw away as much money on its defenses as it likes

And the resulting ROK is a military monster, and Japan is guaranteed to be defeated 120% if it ever went to war with it. 

When the US does something in Korea that it will not do anywhere on earth, handing over the wartime command of its own troops to the ROK military after the OPCON transfer, there is a good reason for it.

The DPRK hasn't attacked Japan.

The US has attacked Japan with nuclear weapons.

I do hope this region will eventually come together and see who the prime aggressor really is, and always has been. Through violence and/or economic war/threats.

The GSOMIA termination came at the perfect time; Japan is now blinded and can't see evasive incoming NK missiles until it is too late to intercept.

But whom can you blame, it was Abe san himself who put Japan into this terrible situation with his stupid trade war, nor can Japan afford to dump $30 billion on building a triple layer missile defense like the ROK is doing.

with interceptor missiles designed to destroy warheads in space.

The reports say the NK missiles fly below the minimum interception altitude of SM-3 missiles and cannot be intercepted by the SM-3 launched from Aegis destroyers.

Japan needs a naval version of THAAD to deal with NK's evasive ballistic missiles, but such missile doesn't exist and Japan can't afford to develop one.

@nigelboy

This is false. 

Sorry to crush your hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUbWBn3Hrs8