Japan Prepares to Evacuate its Citizens from South Korea


As we are painfully aware, the Korean war did not end in the 1950s with a peace treaty but rather with a cease-fire. Hence, the war is still on, just the hostilities ceased except for an occasional incident. Efforts at reunification have gone nowhere, partly because the two systems of government could hardly be more different. And the idea of Kim Jong-un surrendering any power voluntarily is absurd.

So, what’s Japan to do about this threat? As you read these excerpts, keep in mind that they are from an Iranian news source.

Japan’s National Security Council discussed how to evacuate its nearly 60,000 citizens from South Korea in the event of a crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program, a government official said on Friday.

Besides commercial ships and planes, Japan would want to send military aircraft and ships to assist in the evacuation if the South Korean government agreed, the official, familiar with the discussion, said. He declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic.

The NSC, in a meeting on Thursday, also discussed how to cope with a possible flood of North Korean refugees into Japan, among whom might be North Korean spies and agents, Japanese media reported.

Like many other news outlets, PressTV speculates as to whether the attack by U.S. forces in Syria was meant also to send a message to Kim Jong-un.

Tension has risen since the US Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week, raising concerns about US President Donald Trump’s plans for North Korea, which has conducted missile and nuclear tests.

The United States has warned that its policy of “strategic patience” is over.

So, Japan is making plans, but at the same time doesn’t want to make more of the issue than necessary so as not to panic its people.

Japan began working on plans to respond to a potential crisis on the Korean peninsula in February, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Trump at a summit in the United States, Kyodo news agency said.

A Japanese ruling party lawmaker and a government source told Reuters this week that coping with possible North Korean refugees would be among the matters for which Japan had to prepare.

But they said there was concern that any sign of actual preparations for a possible crisis would boost public anxiety.

The situation between North and South Korea, indeed between North Korea and its neighbors plus the United States is very unstable. It really is astonishing that things have not returned to active hostilities before now, especially with typical North Korean bellicosity.

Yet something has changed. It was one thing for the North to make threatening statements to its neighbors years ago. Now it has some form of nuclear weapons and at least a crude delivery system. Hence, the threat has been taken to a far higher level.

What happens next is going to impact the lives of millions of people — for good or otherwise.

Source: PressTV



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