Korea Herald (June 7)
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system “reminds us of the need for self-reliant defense. President Moon should know that he is in a much weaker position” than previous presidents “because the North now has bigger rockets and nuclear bombs. Kim will demand more than his father did if he ever comes to dialogue with us thanks to the ‘Sunshine Policy’ of the new government.”
Tags: Defense, Kim, Moon, North Korea, Nuclear bombs, Rockets, South Korea, Sunshine policy, THAAD, Weaker
CNN (December 23)
“President-elect Donald Trump long ago earned a reputation for being unpredictable in his statements, but he outdid himself on Thursday. In the span of just a few hours, Trump shook international relations by undercutting the Obama administration over a UN resolution on Israeli settlements, indicated he would ramp up nuclear competition with Russia and then jolted a major defense contractor — and its shareholders — by suggesting he would ask Boeing to replace a fighter jet being made by Lockheed Martin.”
Tags: Boeing, Defense, Israel, Lockheed Martin, Nuclear, Obama, Russia, Shareholders, Trump, UN resolution, Unpredictable
Wall Street Journal (April 23)
North Korea’s nuclear arsenal may be larger than previously thought,” as many as 40 warheads by the end of next year, according to Chinese nuclear experts. “A well-stocked nuclear armory in North Korea ramps up security fears in Japan and South Korea, neighboring U.S. allies that could seek their own nuclear weapons in defense.”
Tags: Allies, China, Defense, Experts, Japan, North Korea, Nuclear arsenal, Security, South Korea, U.S., Warheads
Washington Post (February 8)
“The central budget issue of our time” is quite simple, but overlooked. “Spending on the elderly and health care is slowly overwhelming the rest of the federal government. Spending on other vital activities (from defense to financial regulation) is being sacrificed to cover the growing costs of a graying nation.”
Washington Post (February 27, 2014)
“The United States is committed by treaty to defend Japanese administrative control in the Senkaku Islands…．But the United States doesn’t want to get dragged into war over a few crags of rock, either, so Washington is also urging caution to Tokyo.”
Tags: China, Defense, Japan, Senkaku islands, Tokyo, Treaty, U.S., War, Washington
Bloomberg (July 18)
Japan needs to mend relationships with its neighbors. After the upper house Diet elections, “LDP leaders would be wise to focus their resources on overcoming opposition to the most difficult structural reforms. That doesn’t mean Japan can’t take measures it deems necessary to bolster its defenses, such as increasing its military budget, or even making cosmetic changes such as renaming its military the ‘National Defense Forces.’ Such decisions should be based on strategic concerns, not a desire to fire up patriotic fervor. They should be communicated to Beijing quietly but transparently, well in advance.”
Tags: Asia, China, Communication, Defense, Diet, Elections, Japan, LDP, Military, Relationships, Resources, Structural reforms
Businessweek (April 23, 2013)
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is trying to dismiss a fraud suit being filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Both “outrageous” and “even insulting,” S&P’s defense asserts “S&P cannot be held liable for its prolific claims of integrity and analytic skill because those boasts were the sort of baloney that investors and the wider public never take seriously in the first place… In other words: Only a sap would believe the nice things we say about our work.”
Time (March 15)
North Korea continues to ratchet up the tension. “In keeping with the dynasty’s tradition of erratic behavior, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened to bombard a South Korean island with 5,000 residents, further raising alarms in Seoul and the U.S., which is beefing up its own missile defenses against possible attack from Pyongyang.”
Tags: Attack, Defense, Kim Jong Un, Missiles, North Korea, Seoul, Tension, U.S.
The New York Times (November 26)
“To counter a rising China,” Japan is raising its military profile and providing aid to help other Asian countries boost their defenses. “Taken together those steps, while modest, represent a significant shift for Japan, which had resisted repeated calls from the United States to become a true regional power for fear that would move it too far from its postwar pacifism.”
Wall Street Journal (April 23)
Delhi is smart not to “trust” Beijing or simply “rely” on Washington. “India’s successful test of an Agni-V long-range, nuclear-capable missile shows the shrewdness of the world’s largest democracy. Delhi has looked past smokescreens from Beijing and Washington to judge hard realities.”
