US to deploy interceptor missiles in southern Japan

Japan and the United States have agreed to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on US bases in Japan for the first time, amid concerns North Korea may test-fire a long-range ballistic missile.

The two sides reached the accord earlier this month and intend to install the weapons as early as possible, a Defence Agency spokeswoman said.

The plan will put Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles – designed to intercept ballistic missiles, cruise missiles or enemy aircraft – on US bases in Japan for the first time.

The Defence Agency spokeswoman said sites and timing for the deployment had not yet been decided.

But a local newspaper reported that the US military would deploy three or four of the surface-to-air missile batteries on the southern island of Okinawa by the end of the year and send an additional 500 to 600 US troops there.

Up to 16 missiles can fit in a single PAC-3 battery, according to the system’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.

The plan was proposed by US officials during a June 17 meeting in Hawaii, Japan’s largest newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

The two countries signed an agreement in 2005 allowing Japan to produce PAC-3 missiles for deployment at Japanese bases, but the plan to deploy them on US bases is apparently separate.

Recent intelligence reports have said North Korea may be fuelling a Taepodong-2, one of its most advanced missiles believed capable of reaching parts of the US, at a launch site on the country’s north-eastern coast, sparking concerns Pyongyang may soon test-fire one.

The North had maintained a self-imposed moratorium on such launches since 1999. The United States, Japan and other countries have urged North Korea to halt any plans to test the missile, while Pyongyang has insisted it has the right to do so if it chooses.

Diplomacy aimed at defusing the stand-off gathered pace. South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon was travelling Monday evening to Beijing on a two-day visit to seek China’s cooperation in halting any North Korean launch.

“There is a growing need to intensify discussions between South Korea and China on North Korea’s recent missile issue and the nuclear issue,” the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ban will meet his counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, as well as Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, the ministry said.

China is the North’s key ally providing aid and economic support, and is believed able to exert the most influence on its communist neighbour. Beijing has also hosted international talks on the North’s nuclear programme, which haven’t convened since November amid a North Korean boycott in anger over US financial restrictions.

In addition to the PAC-3, the missile concerns have prompted the US to move up its planned test of a missile-detecting radar system in northern Japan, Kyodo News agency reported, citing an unidentified US official in Washington.

A test-run of the high-resolution radar, capable of detecting incoming missiles, was initially scheduled to begin weeks later. However, Kyodo said testing could start as early as today.

Japanese Defence Facilities Administration Agency, in charge of US military bases in Japan, said the report about the radar installation could not be immediately confirmed.

The X-Band radar had been transferred from a US base in Japan to the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force’s Shariki base at Tsugaru, in the country’s north. Tsugaru is 360 miles north-east of Tokyo.

The radar deployment is part of the joint missile defence project, which began after North Korea fired a missile, part of which flew over Japan, in 1998.

Tokyo and Washington on Friday also signed an agreement to expand their cooperation on a joint ballistic missile defence shield, committing themselves to joint production of interceptor missiles.