Wars are not won from defensive postures
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By Nam Sang-so
A member of the Politburo of the North Korean Worker’s Party threatened not only to rub out Seoul but boasted that “we can wipe out Japan from this earth by simply attacking one of their atomic power plants spread over the islands. The explosion will be 320 times more powerful than that of the Hiroshima atomic blast.”
Most South Korean men have turned deaf ears to the North’s repeated threats as those of the boy who cried wolf, while their eyes are wide open looking at fashionable girls in the streets of Seoul and wondering when black winter nylons will disappear. However, Japanese people are getting very nervous about the North’s ballistic missile capability and the recent relocation of weapons to its east coast directly facing mainland Japan.
Instead of calling its military Armed Forces, Japan had to name it Self-Defense Forces (SDF) because Article 9 of the country’s Constitution prohibits acts of war. The English translation of the article roughly reads: “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.”
As long as Japan aspires sincerely to an international peace and maintains this article in the Constitution, it cannot use war against any adversary. But if cornered who knows when their hidden “Japanese soul” could erupt and fight to death just like they did during World War II, practically disregarding the outcome. The SDF ― a de facto army, navy and air force ― is comprised of five armies, five maritime districts and three air defense zones, and is equipped with the latest high-tech weapons manned by professional soldiers. It could easily be armed with nuclear weapons at anytime.
Quoting a former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Bakuryo) of the SDF, the Asahi magazine recently reported that a North Korean missile would take seven to eight minutes to reach any target in Japan including Tokyo or one of the country’s nuclear power plants. It added that the Japan’s Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system has an 80 to 90 percent accuracy in intercepting such missiles before impact.
It also reported the military balance between Japan and North Korea (2012) as follows; Population: Japan 127,460,000, North Korea 24,450,000. Total armed forces: Japan 240,000, N.K. 1,190,000. Tanks: Japan 806, N.K. 3,500. Submarines: Japan 18, N.K. 72. Fighter planes: Japan 371, N.K. 603.
Some Japanese politicians have begun to call for the elimination of Article 9 so they too can be armed with offensive arms including amphibious assault and nuclear weapons.
Incidentally, the Bakuryo strongly emphasized the military alliance with the U.S., a former enemy, but didn’t predict what South Korea’s role should be in a war scenario against the North.
Now, the threatening muzzles of the North are pointing east from their east coast positions aiming at or over Japan and putting American’s Misawa Air Base, Yokota Air Base, Yokosuka Naval Base, Atsugi Air Base, and Iwakuni Base in the line of fire.
The North apparently knows well that wars, or even a peace treaty ― the North’s ultimate wish ― are not won from a defensive posture.
The author is a retired architect/project analyst who was born and raised in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. His email address is
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