Japan's Ministry of Defense test-launched its upgraded Type-12 surface-to-air missile at the Niijima branch of the Air Systems Research Center, Tokyo, in October 2024. (Japan Ministry of Defense)
North Korea warned Japan against stationing long-range missiles on Kyushu, accusing the country of furthering a “history of aggression,” according to a report Thursday from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Japan is considering deploying an upgraded version of its Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles there at the end of the next fiscal year, Kyodo News reported Sunday, citing unnamed government sources. Japan’s fiscal year runs April 1 to March 31.
The deployment to Japan’s southernmost main island would put the missiles — expected to have a range of about 620 miles, according to Kyodo — within reach of North Korea and China’s coast.
The KCNA report, attributed to an unnamed policy section chief of North Korea’s Institute of Japan Studies, warned that any “military means” targeting North Korea “are an object to be wiped out.”
The report also accused Japan of possessing “preemptive attack capability” and of revealing its “wild ambition of militarism” following its 2022 national security strategy revision. The updated strategy calls for increased defense spending and counterstrike capabilities against potential adversaries’ missile sites.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense declined to confirm the potential deployment or the missiles’ range in an unsigned email to Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.
Tokyo has yet to decide where it will deploy the missiles, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters Tuesday.
“We will decide it at the appropriate moment after considering it comprehensively,” he said at a news conference.
Japan conducted three successful test launches of the ground-based missile in October. It is expected to be fully implemented in fiscal 2025.
In 2023, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force opened a missile base on Ishigaki Island, at the far end of the Nansei island chain southwest of Kyushu. The base was armed with Type-12 surface-to-ship guided missiles and Type-03 surface-to-air guided missiles as a hedge against an increased Chinese military presence in the seas east of the chain and around Taiwan.
