My latest for Jane's Defence Weekly

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Japan could invoke right to ‘collective self-defence' if Guam attacked

Kosuke Takahashi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
10 August 2017

Any missile attack by North Korea on the US territory of Guam in the western Pacific would breach the US deterrence against an attack on Japan, enabling Japan to exercise the right to ‘collective self-defence’, Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said on 10 August.

North Korea’s Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army on 9 August issued a statement saying that it is considering firing four Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) simultaneously toward waters 30 to 40 km off Guam, effectively as a ‘show of force’ to the Trump administration. It said it would complete its plan by mid-August.

In response to the North Korean statement, Onodera said an attack on Guam would be considered a so-called ‘survived threatening situation’ in Japan, or a Japanese national emergency, because it would threaten Japan’s existence as a nation.

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My latest for Jane's Defence Weekly

Japan's white paper outlines top priorities for defence production

Kosuke Takahashi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
08 August 2017

Key Points
・Japan's latest defence white paper looks to improve the efficiency of the country's defence production and procurement
・The paper also describes North Korea's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile developments for the first time as a "new level of threat"

Japan's Defence White Paper 2017, released on 8 August, outlines a number of priorities for the country's methods of defence procurement and production.

The paper highlights four major requirements: expanding the competitive research-funding programme; maintaining and strengthening defence production and the technological base to ensure "technological superiority"; improving defence project management; and the promotion of defence equipment and technology co-operation with other countries.

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My latest piece in JAPAN Forward

3 Reasons China Can’t Stop Exporting Oil to North Korea

Kosuke Takahashi (Tokyo correspondent of IHS Jane's Defence Weekly)