The Japanese and US militaries are planning joint exercises to practice defending Japan against armed attack, Japan's top government spokesman said yesterday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yashi-hisa Shiozaki's announcement followed news reports that the allies are planning defense strategies in the event of conflict on the Korean peninsula or in the Taiwan Strait.
"We are planning a simulation of what joint activities between Japan and the US would be best for the defense of Japan," Shiozaki told reporters in Tokyo, adding that they were also working on a second joint plan for "incidents in surrounding areas."
Japan and the US have been crafting joint defense plans for more than a year, but the secretary stopped short of identifying specific scenarios or countries that might be considered threats.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said separately yesterday that the government was "likely to be looking into'' how Japan would deal with possible refugees from North Korea should the regime collapse.
"We can expect that there would be refugees, and there clearly is also the very high possibility that there would be armed refugees. Accordingly, it is likely that the government is looking into how to deal with this," Aso said.
Tokyo predicts that as many as 100,000 to 150,000 refugees could arrive in Japan in the event of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula, the Asahi Shimbun reported on Friday, citing unidentified individuals familiar with the matter.
Japan and the US are expected to examine how they could jointly handle such a situation, it said.
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