Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, meet on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024
Japan and South Korea agree to prevent repeat of 2018 naval row
The move to shelve long-standing political differences is seen as a significant step toward restoring bilateral defense and security cooperation.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024
Japan defense minister warns of ‘simultaneous crises’ in Asia and beyond
Defense chief Minoru Kihara said Tokyo is “ready to lead the way” in preserving and strengthening a free and open international, rules-based order.
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (left) shakes hands with Chinese defense chief Dong Jun on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024
Japan defense chief tells China counterpart of 'serious' military concerns
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara met Chinese defense chief Dong Jun on the sidelines of a major Asian security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell speaks to journalists after welcoming Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano and South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hyong Kyun, at his Iron Bell farm in Washington, Virginia, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024
Japan, U.S. and South Korea officials slam recent North Korean launches
The three officials also shared concerns about deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, including arms transfers from the former to the latter.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 1, 2024
U.S. defense chief stresses commitment to Asia as concerns mount
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington was focused on the region even as the White House grapples with the conflicts raging in Ukraine and Gaza.
A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to fire a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops in May.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2024
Biden tip-toes deeper into Ukraine conflict with arms decision
Experts say the decision to relax some restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S. weaponry inside Russia could help blunt Moscow's offensive.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun (center) arrives with his delegation for a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024
U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs agree on importance of military talks
The meeting marked the first face-to-face talks by the U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs in 18 months.
U.S. soldiers participate in a joint exercise conducted for South Korean and U.S. soldiers in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi province, South Korea, on March 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024
China's military drills 'remain underdeveloped' amid regional tensions
Noting the U.S. military may eventually lose its edge over China in the region, a new study says China is challenged by a lack of combat experience.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. According to four U.S. officials, Biden has quietly authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons against military targets inside Russia.
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2024
Biden allows Ukraine limited use of U.S. arms to strike inside Russia
Revelation by U.S. officials marks a policy shift by Biden, who had refused to allow Ukraine to use U.S. weaponry for strikes inside Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Kyiv use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia, something he said could trigger a global conflict.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024
Think tank close to Kremlin says Russia should consider a 'demonstrative' nuclear explosion
The idea was suggested as a way to cow the West into refusing to allow Ukraine to use its arms against targets inside Russia.
A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 30, 2024
In unusual move, North Korea fires off barrage of at least 10 ballistic missiles
While the North has in the past launched multiple missiles in a single volley, the sheer number fired Thursday pointed to training for so-called saturation strikes.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks after a trilateral AUKUS meeting, in San Diego in March 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2024
Who will 'plug and play' with AUKUS?
Tokyo, Ottawa, and Seoul must demonstrate their value in AUKUS by contributing sustainably and enhancing its effectiveness in promoting a rules-based Indo-Pacific order.
Schoolchildren cross a wooden bridge in Zabul province, Afghanistan on Tuesday.
WORLD
May 29, 2024
Mines and unexploded ordnance a daily menace for Afghanistan's children
Nearly 900 people were killed or wounded by leftover munitions from January 2023 to April this year alone, most of them children, according to UN figures.
Yasukazu Hamada, parliamentary affairs leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who is also former Defense Minister, will chair a nonpartisan lawmaker group that will request the government to form an organization to investigate UFOs.
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2024
Japan lawmakers to create group for government probes into UFOs
The group will hold its founding general meeting on June 6 after Tuesday's preparatory meeting, which was held in parliament.
Some experts are concerned about the potential for worldwide conflict within the next few years as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are likely preparing for major confrontation.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2024
Echoes of 1962, the Berlin crisis and a world teetering on war
There is the potential for worldwide conflict within the next three years as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are likely preparing for major confrontation.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak inspects troops at a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, on May 3. Sunak is making the question of protecting Britain and navigating dangerous geopolitical conditions central themes of his election campaign.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024
War is at the heart of the U.K.’s summer election
British Prime Minister Sunak is nevertheless right to inject defense into the heart of the election campaign.
A woman walks past a television at a railway station in Seoul on Tuesday showing a news broadcast with NHK footage of a projectile that exploded into a fireball a day earlier, following Pyongyang's failed attempt to put a second spy satellite in orbit.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 28, 2024
Pyongyang’s fiery space-race failure cold comfort as more launches expected
The launch failure was also viewed as a possible symbolic success in being disruptive just as a rare summit involving Japan, South Korea and China was concluding.
Firefighters work at the site of an agriculture equipment factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine, hit by a Russian air strike on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2024
EU nations fume over Hungary’s vetoes of Ukraine weapons aid
As long as Hungary continues to block the disbursement of funding for military weapons donated to Ukraine, the bloc can’t use the money to help Kyiv.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the country's Politburo at an undisclosed location on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2024
North Korea says its latest satellite launch exploded in flight
North Korea said its attempt to launch a new military reconnaissance satellite ended in failure on Monday when a newly developed rocket engine exploded in flight.
A peace rally on Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3. Japan’s identity as a pacifist nation is shifting as the government strengthens its military, but many don’t agree with the policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2024
Government and society are at odds on national security
Tokyo posits itself as a mutual defense ally of the U.S., but polls show that while the public wants a stronger military, changes should align with the peace Constitution.

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?