Japanese expert: North Korea's missile capabilities can be comprehensively improved

(Baonghean.vn) - A research institute under the Japanese Ministry of Defense warned on April 14 of the increasing instability in security in East Asia.

“Pyongyang’s missile capabilities have been diversified and could be comprehensively enhanced,” Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies said in its annual report on East Asian security. This was in reference to North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests over the past year.

North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities show "qualitative" improvement. Photo: Reuters.

Pyongyang's improved capabilities, demonstrated by conducting simultaneous or consecutive missile tests and using solid fuel to propel missiles faster than liquid fuel, pose "an increasingly serious threat" to regional and global security, the report said.

The institute is closely watching how the next South Korean president will deal with neighboring North Korea. If the new Seoul administration seeks warmer relations with Pyongyang, it could have a negative impact on South Korea's relations with Japan and the United States.

Referring to China, the institute said that the country's "blatant" claims of sovereignty over disputed waters will increase. Beijing is aiming to control the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, which are claimed by both China and Japan.

Part of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, which Japan and China claim sovereignty over, in the East China Sea. Photo: Reuters.

Chinese vessels have been spotted around the uninhabited islets of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in recent times. On June 15 last year, a large Chinese vessel was confirmed to have entered Japanese territorial waters for the first time in more than a decade. On August 8 last year, a fleet of Chinese coast guard vessels entered the contiguous zone just outside of Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

“China’s moves indicate that it is strengthening its existing sovereignty claims over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, and that it is entering a phase of intensifying efforts to exert de facto control over the islets,” the report said.

Lan Ha

(According to Kyodo)