Latest Japanese armed forces News

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a policy speech in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. Abe said Monday that Japan will form a space defense unit to protect itself from potential threats as rivals develop missiles and other technology and the new unit will work closely with its American counterpart recently launched by President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Abe says new unit will defend Japan from space tech threats

Jan. 20, 2020 4:59 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's prime minister said Monday that his country will form a space defense unit to protect itself from potential threats as rivals develop missiles and other technology and the new unit will work closely with its American counterpart recently launched by President Donald Trump. The Space...

FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2019, file photo, former South Korean comfort women, Lee Yong-soo, center, Lee Ok-seon and Gil Won-ok, right, leave the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday, Dec. 27, rejected a petition seeking the repeal of a 2015 deal with Japan settling a bitter dispute over Korean women enslaved for sex by the Japanese military during World War II. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

S Korea court rejects attempt to repeal Japan sex slave deal

Dec. 27, 2019 4:02 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday rejected a petition seeking the repeal of a 2015 deal with Japan settling a bitter dispute over Korean women enslaved for sex by the Japanese military during World War II. A decision to spike the largely stalled deal could have...

People hold placards protesting against a troop dispatch to Middle East outside the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo Friday, Dec. 27, 2019. Japan on Friday approved a contentious plan to send its naval troops to the Middle East to contribute to the peace and stability in the area and ensure the safety of Japanese ships transporting oil, a mission crucial to an energy-poor country that heavily depends on oil imports from the region. The placard at left reads:

Japan OKs divisive plan to send naval troops to Mideast

Dec. 27, 2019 2:00 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday approved a contentious plan to send its naval troops to the Middle East to ensure the safety of Japanese ships transporting oil to the energy-poor country that heavily depends on imports from the region. The Cabinet's decision reflects tensions that have escalated between Iran...

FILE - This Aug. 2018, file aerial photo shows preliminary construction work off Henoko, in Nago city, Okinawa prefecture, Japan, where the Japanese government plans to relocate a U.S. air base from one area of Okinawa's main island to another. Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki urged Japan's central government to stop the construction it unilaterally started to allow a U.S. Marine Corps. base to relocate to a less-crowded area of the southern Japanese island despite local opposition, responding to a new defense ministry estimate that it would take more than twice the time and cost than previously thought to get the base closed and returned to Okinawan sovereignty. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP, File)

Okinawa gov. renews demand to stop US base relocation plan

Dec. 26, 2019 1:46 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Okinawa's Gov. Denny Tamaki renewed demands Thursday that Japan's central government halt construction of a U.S. Marine Corps. base being relocated to a less-crowded area of the southern Japanese island despite vehement local opposition. Tamaki was responding to a defense ministry estimate...

FILE - This Aug. 2018, file aerial photo shows preliminary construction work off Henoko, in Nago city, Okinawa prefecture, Japan, where the Japanese government plans to relocate a U.S. air base from one area of Okinawa's main island to another. A construction needed to improve the fragile structure underneath of a planned relocation site for a U.S. Marine Corps. base on Okinawa is to require twice as much time and cost than the previous estimate, adding more than a decade to the plan that has already been delayed for more than 20 years. The Defense Ministry on Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, said its latest estimate now shows that a relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP, File)

Time and cost of relocation of US base in Okinawa to double

Dec. 25, 2019 8:52 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — The relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps base to a less-crowded area of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa will take more than twice as much money and time as previously estimated because of the need to stabilize the reclaimed land it will be built on, Japan's government said Wednesday. The...

FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2017, file photo, a statue representing sex slaves is seen near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. Japan's army during World War II asked the government to provide one sex slave for every 70 soldiers, according to historical documents reviewed by Kyodo News service that highlight the state role in the so-called “comfort women” system. The letters read

Historical documents show Japan's role in WWII sex slaves

Dec. 7, 2019 10:44 PM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's army during World War II asked the government to provide one sex slave for every 70 soldiers, according to historical documents reviewed by Kyodo News service that highlight the state role in the so-called “comfort women” system. The 23 documents were gathered by Japan's...

Lavrov: US-Japan security alliance ‘a problem’ for Russia

Nov. 23, 2019 6:00 AM EST

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister says the U.S.-Japan security alliance poses “a problem” for Russia-Japan relations and complicates peace treaty talks. The two countries have been struggling to negotiate a peace treaty after World War II because of a territorial dispute. The...

Kim You-geun, deputy director of South Korea's presidential national security office, speaks at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. South Korea says it has decided to continue a 2016 military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan it previously decided to terminate amid ongoing disputes over their wartime history and trade. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In reversal, Seoul to keep Japan military intelligence pact

Nov. 22, 2019 7:07 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In a major policy reversal, South Korea said Friday it has decided to continue, at least temporarily, a 2016 military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan that it previously said it would terminate amid ongoing tensions over wartime history and trade. The announcement, made...

Kim You-geun, deputy director of South Korea's presidential national security office, speaks at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. South Korea says it has decided to continue a 2016 military intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan it previously decided to terminate amid ongoing disputes over their wartime history and trade. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The Latest: Japan resumes export control talks with S. Korea

Nov. 22, 2019 4:53 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on the dispute between South Korea and Japan (all times local): 6:45 p.m. Japan says it will resume export control talks with South Korea after Seoul notified Tokyo that it will drop action against it at WTO. Japan’s Trade Ministry made the announcement Friday....

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