Japan joins US missle defense team

Washington Post:

Japan and the United States agreed Friday to expand their cooperation on a ballistic missile defense shield, moving to protect themselves amid concerns that North Korea could test-fire a long-range missile.

The agreement, signed by Foreign Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer, commits the two countries to jointly produce interceptor missiles, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

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The announcement came hours after Japanese officials said a high-resolution radar that can detect incoming missiles had been deployed at a base in northern Japan.

The so-called X-Band radar was transferred from the U.S. military's Misawa Air Base in Misawa to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Shariki base in Tsugaru, about 360 miles northeast of Tokyo, Japan's Defense Agency said.

The radar is expected to begin monitoring airspace this summer for ballistic missiles, a Defense Agency said on condition of anonymity citing policy. The radar is solely to monitor missiles and not fitted with a missile interceptor, she said.

Foreign Minister official Saori Nagahara said Japan and the U.S. have not decided when to begin production of interceptor missiles, but the development phase was expected to take about nine years. The agreement updates a November 1983 pact on arms transfers and a December 2004 missile defense cooperation arrangement.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, meanwhile, warned the North that firing a missile would not force the United States to make concessions.

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The Norks know how to get attention, but it is not what they intended. The US is not going to tell the kooks that it is OK to counterfeit US currency or build missiles to attack the US. It is just not going to happen unless we elect Democrats, which would probably then make it an open question.