Amid growing threats from China and North Korea, Japan is reportedly planning to resume anti-missile evacuation drills, a program that has been suspended for four years.
Meanwhile, the government announced independent research and development (R&D) and mass production of new missiles. It also accelerated the upgrade of the self-defense force to better respond to security threats in the country’s surrounding areas.
Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) reported on Sept. 3 that the move to resume evacuation drills was primarily triggered by North Korea’s frequent ballistic missile launches this year.
The drills are expected to be held in ten municipalities in eight prefectures—including Hokkaido, Niigata, Kagawa, and Okinawa—from late September to late January of next year, enacting under the assumption that a ballistic missile powerful enough to reach Japan had been fired….