Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

An intermediate-range ballistic missile, said to be solid-fueled, is launched during a test at an unspecified location in North Korea in this picture released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 15, 2024
Test of latest North Korean weapon adds to threat facing Japan
Pyongyang said the missile was “loaded with a hypersonic maneuverable controlled warhead" that experts say is capable of evading defenses.
People watch a television screen showing  file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 14, 2024
In first launch of 2024, North Korea tests intermediate-range missile
The South Korean military said the launch was of an IRBM-class weapon, which is believed to have a range of up to 5,000 kilometers.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, visit a Samsung semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2024
South Korea's economic strategy amid the U.S.-China rivalry
If the world is to avoid incurring increasingly high costs from fragmentation, the U.S. and China must learn how to coexist and engage in fair competition.
The Houthis benefit Iran because they command a large country with plenty of remote locations to fire missiles from and are in close proximity to some of the world’s main energy sources.
COMMENTARY
Jan 14, 2024
The Houthis are now Iran’s most potent proxy
For the wider world, responding to the growing Houthi menace will require much more than naval flotillas to the Red Sea.
People take part in a first aid and emergency training course by the Taiwanese civil defense group the Forward Alliance.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2024
Taiwan civil defense groups push for more resilience as China threat grows
The organizations offer training courses in first aid, media literacy, disaster response as well as in understanding the different layers of modern warfare.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2024
Futenma moves forward, but local concerns must be addressed
Originally planned to have been finished by now, the base project is now anticipated to take over nine years to complete.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2024
North Korea set to send new class of missiles to Russia, Seoul says
By sending more weapons of greater sophistication, Kim is likely receiving substantial aid that keeps his sanctions-hit economy afloat as well as technology from Russia.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with U.S. President Joe Biden in Tokyo in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 11, 2024
A critical year for the Japan-U.S. alliance
The foundation of the Japan-U.S. partnership is a belief in the need to support and maintain the rules-based global order.
A man photographs parts of an unidentified missile on Saturday, which Ukrainian authorities believe to have been made in North Korea and which was used in a strike in Kharkiv earlier this week.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2024
Ukraine is 'test site' for North Korean missiles: Seoul
Moscow and Pyongyang have both denied conducting any arms deals but they vowed last year to deepen military relations.
A Ukrainian sapper from the 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade prepares an anti-tank mine during a military training exercise in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Nov. 28, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sappers are often the first to get to the front line, clearing territory before assault troops, but work also to allow civilians to return to their homes.
WORLD
Jan 10, 2024
'Definitely a trap': Ukraine's sappers face new dangers
Getting rid of the mines is essential to Ukraine's war effort, as they clear the way for offensive operations and allow civilians to return to their homes.
A "presidential alert" message issued by the authorities to all phones across Taiwan is seen Tuesday after the government issued a national emergency alert following China's launch of a satellite.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 9, 2024
China satellite launch triggers Taiwan emergency phone alert
Chinese state media said that Beijing had successfully launched the "Einstein Probe satellite using the Long March-2C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center."
Self-Defense Force personnel taking part in the earthquake-relief efforts help residents in an isolated village in Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 9, 2024
The U.S. role in Japan's domestic disaster relief
The U.S. pledge for support offers another example of how the U.S.-Japan alliance contributes to Japan's domestic disaster relief.
An Israeli soldier looks on as smoke rises from Gaza on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2024
South Korea confirms Hamas used North Korean weapons in Gaza war
Seoul's spy agency has released a photo of a North Korean rocket part to show that Hamas fighters were using an F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher made by Pyongyang.
A Taiwan Air Force Mirage 2000-5 aircraft prepares to land in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Jan. 2. In the event of a conflict with China, Taiwan would face a military that rivals that of the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2024
Xi, Biden and the $10 trillion cost of war over Taiwan
The price tag — equivalent to about 10% of global GDP — dwarfs the blow from the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 pandemic and 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers his Quad Fellowship Announcement as the leaders of the United States, India and Australia look on after meeting in Tokyo in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 8, 2024
Dialogue can boost security where military deterrence can’t
Military buildup without dialogue is too risky — civil society actors in East Asia understand this better than their governments.
Ukrainian officials inspect a Russian cruise missile shot down near Kyiv in January 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2024
U.S. preeminence is threatened by a real 'missile gap'
The U.S. isn’t just being tested politically. Its military dominance also is in question, partly due to overextension.
North Korea has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine. "This is a significant and concerning escalation," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a briefing.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2024
Russia used North Korean missiles for Ukraine attacks, U.S. says
Russia is also looking to obtain missiles from its ally Iran as it runs short of arms nearly two years into its invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, in December last year. Trump's potential return to the White House could have serious implications for the U.S, as well as Japan, as he appears set to be even less inhibited and open to reason than before.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2024
Potential Trump redux: Unrestrained in Asia or bound by a changed region?
A win for the ex-president in November's election would potentially have big implications for Japan, given the death of Shinzo Abe, its most effective “Trump whisperer.”
A Ukrainian artillery unit operating a Swedish-made Archer self-propelled howitzer fires on Russian positions in the country's Donetsk region on Dec. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2024
Russian revanchism must be defeated in Ukraine
The fact that Putin has violated numerous treaties would cast substantial doubt on the credibility of any deal.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023
The outlook for 2024 appears grim — but nothing is preordained
Given the complex landscape of 2024, we can expect to navigate uncertainty, geopolitical shifts and a myriad of pivotal elections.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years