GOTEMBA, Japan – Japan’s military on Thursday began four days of live-fire drills near Mount Fuji, an annual exercise that comes this year the day after North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
Around 2,400 soldiers, as well as tanks, field guns and helicopters were deployed at training grounds in the foothills of the country’s most famous mountain, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Tokyo.
The drill came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un hailed his country’s latest weapons test the “greatest success”.
The 500-kilometre (300-mile) flight towards Japan, from a vessel submerged off the northeastern port of Sinpo, far outstripped previous North Korean sub-launched missile tests.
Separately, the defence ministers of Japan and Australia on Thursday condemned recent sabre-rattling from Pyongyang, which carried out a nuclear test in January.
“We are very concerned about the SLBM launch yesterday, as the North Korean move is a grave and imminent threat not only to Japan’s security but also to the region and global society,” Japan’s defence minister Tomomi Inada told visiting Australian counterpart Marise Payne.
Reuters, AFP
