Working for Self-restraint

After notification of North Korea for launching test of ballistic missile, which it was argued to be satellite, Shinzo Abe administration has been busy for showing how to deal with that. While Japanese government made diplomatic effort to stop the test, Ministry of Defense was preparing for shooting down the missile. As long as the behavior of North Korea is determined in the context of international relationship among great powers, the efforts in Japan does not seem to be working.

International Maritime Organization released the plan of North Korea for launching “earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong” on Tuesday. The day for the test was set between 8^th and 25^th of this month. The vehicle will be flying southward from Korean Peninsula and dropped on the east side of Luzon Island, Philippine, in South China Sea after passing over the sky of Sakishima Islands, Japan. It would mostly be the same course the North took in the missile test in 2012.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed serious concern on the behavior of North Korea. “It actually meant to launch ballistic missile and would violate the resolutions of United Nations Security Council. It should be a significant intimidation to security of Japan,” said Abe in the discussion in House of Representatives on Wednesday. He stressed the importance of cooperative effort to request North Korea’s restraint.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, met with U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, to reconfirm close cooperation including South Korea. Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Akitaka Saiki, visited Ambassadors from Russia and China in Tokyo to ask the North self-restraint. However, Japanese diplomats should have known that North Korean regime would not follow their advice. Even how Chinese spokesperson denounces North’s unilateral action against threat of United States, China is reluctant to deliver an additional sanction by United Nations.

Minister of Defense, Gen Nakatani, announced that he issued an order to destroy, in case the missile would fall in Japanese territory. Receiving the order, Japanese Self-defense Force started deploying Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles on islands of Miyako and Ishigaki. But, it is unclear whether the missile from North Korea will fulfill the condition to use Japanese anti-missile system.

The important point for Abe administration is approaching to a situation, in which Japanese government can exercise collective self-defense right. Whether Japanese force could shoot a missile was one of the focusing points in the discussion over constitutionality of collective self-defense right. It is unclear whether Japan will actually shoot the North Korean missile down.