Tag: Japan government

Wall Street falls as US inflation slows but remains hot

NEW YORK — A choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended with stocks broadly lower Friday, after a new report showed that inflation is slowing less than hoped just days before Federal Reserve officials are expected to raise interest rates again.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite each fell 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9%. Smaller company stocks fell even more, pulling the Russell 2000 index 1.2% lower. The indexes marked their first losing week in the last three.

The U.S. government reported that prices paid at the wholesale level were 7.4% higher in November than a year earlier. That’s a slowdown from October’s wholesale inflation rate of 8.1%, but it was still slightly worse than economists expected.

“There’s a sense that inflation has plateaued, but that said it’s still sticky and the Fed is most likely going to have to push harder,” said Quincy Krosby, chief equity strategist for LPL Financial.

The nation’s high inflation, along with the Federal Reserve’s economy-crunching response to it, have been the main reasons for Wall Street’s painful tumble this year. Stocks have recovered some of their losses recently, as inflation has slowed since hitting a peak in the summer. But it remains too high, raising the risk the Federal Reserve will have to keep hiking interest rates sharply to get it fully under control.

Treasury yields climbed as traders stepped up bets for how high the Fed will ultimately take interest rates. The central bank has already hiked its key overnight rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%, up from basically zero as recently as March.

Its next decision on rates is scheduled for next week, and the general expectation is for it to raise rates by another half of a percentage point.

Friday’s economic data did not sway Wall Street’s expectations on that, not after several Fed officials hinted recently they may step down from their string of four straight hikes of 0.75 percentage points. Such a dial down would mean less added pressure on markets and the economy. Even so, the Fed has said it may still take rates higher than markets expect before taking a pause.

Higher rates hurt the economy by making it more expensive for companies and households to borrow money, which forces them to cut back on spending. If rates go too high, it can cause a recession. They also drag down on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.

A separate report on Friday showed U.S. households are paring expectations a bit for inflation in the future. That’s key for the Fed, which wants to prevent a vicious cycle where households rush to make purchases on fears prices will rise further. Such buying activity only fans inflation higher.

Households are forecasting inflation of 4.6% in the year ahead, according to the survey by the University of Michigan. That’s the lowest such reading in 15 months, though still well above where it was two years ago. Expectations for longer-run inflation remain stuck in the 2.9% to 3.1% range where they’ve been for 16 of the last 17 months, at 3%.

Overall sentiment among consumers was also stronger than economists expected, according to the University of Michigan’s preliminary reading. That’s good news for the economy, which gets most of its strength from spending by such consumers. But it can also complicate the Fed’s task. If such spending remains resilient, it could keep up the pressure on inflation.

The last big piece of data on inflation before the Fed’s next decision arrives on Tuesday, when economists expect the consumer price index to show that inflation slowed to 7.3% last month from 7.7% in October.

“The two most important questions for next year are how fast inflation will drop and how much will it need to drop for the Fed to stop tightening,” foreign-exchange strategists wrote in a BofA Global Research report. “We are concerned markets too optimistic on both.”

Roughly 75% of the stocks in the S&P 500 closed lower Friday, with health care, technology and energy among the sectors that weighed down the market most. The benchmark index fell 29.13 points to 3,934.38. It finished 3.4% lower for the week and is now down 17.5% this year.

The Dow fell 305.02 points to 33,476.46, while the Nasdaq slid 77.39 points to 11,004.62. The Russell 2000 dropped 21.63 points to 1,796.66.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tends to track expectations for Fed action, rose to 4.36% from 4.26% just before Friday’s inflation report was released. It was at 4.31% late Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps dictate rates for mortgages and other loans, rose to 3.58% from 3.49% late Thursday.

In overseas stock markets, European indexes closed higher after recovering from a pullback following the U.S. inflation report.

Chinese benchmarks rose Friday on reports the government is planning new measures to support the ailing property sector, which has been a severe drag on growth over the past several years.

The relaxation of some of China’s “zero-COVID” rules is also raising hopes the economy will gain momentum, though experts say it will take months for tourism and other business to recover from the disruptions of the pandemic. It historically has been a major source of the global economy’s growth.

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AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.

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December 9, 2022
Asian shares slip after tech stock slump on Wall St

BANGKOK — Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after Wall Street sagged under weakness in tech stocks.

U.S. futures turned higher and oil prices rebounded more than $1 a barrel.

Japan revised upward its GDP data to show the economy contracted less than earlier reported in July-September, in a sign the country weathered its latest big COVID wave with less damage than had been thought.

The Cabinet Office reported Thursday that the economy shrank at a 0.8% annual rate in July-September. That was better than minus 1.2% annual growth reported earlier.

In quarterly terms, the world’s third-largest economy contracted 0.2% instead of 0.3%.

Shares rose in Hong Kong as investors assessed the potential impact of a rollback of many pandemic restrictions on the Chinese mainland.

On Wednesday, rules on isolating people with COVID-19 were eased and virus test requirements were dropped for some public places in a dramatic change to a strategy that had confined millions of people to their homes and sparked protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.

Experts warned, however, that the “zero-COVID” restrictions can’t be lifted completely until at least mid-2023 because millions of elderly people still must be vaccinated and the health care system strengthened.

“Specifically, there are three reasons to be restrained, if not circumspect, on China cheer. First, the simple point that the unwind of entrenched zero-COVID policies will take time and perhaps be a bumpy process rather than a linear path to instant gratification,” Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 3.5% to 19,475.45, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.1% to 3,197.35.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 0.8% to 7,175.50 and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.5% to 2,371.08. Shares also fell in Bangkok, Mumbai and Taiwan.

Wall Street ended a wobbly day of trading with more losses Wednesday, with the S&P 500 down 0.2% in its fifth straight loss. It closed at 3,933.92.

Technology and communication services stocks were the biggest weights on the benchmark index. Apple fell 1.4% and Google parent Alphabet dropped 2.1%.

The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with tech stocks, fell 0.5% to 10,958.55 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 1.58 point gain, essentially flat, at 33,597.92.

The Russell 2000 index fell 0.3% to 1,806.90.

Treasury yields fell significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, slid to 3.42% from 3.53% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which tends to track market expectations of future action by the Federal Reserve, fell to 4.27% from 4.36%.

Investors have been dealing with a relative lack of news ahead of updates on inflation and consumer sentiment later this week, and the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week. Inflation, the Fed’s aggressive interest rate increases and recession worries remain the big concerns for Wall Street.

Investors are watching for data that may yield more insights into inflation’s path ahead and how the Fed will continue fighting high prices.

The U.S. will release data on weekly unemployment claims on Thursday. The jobs market has been a strong area of the otherwise slowing economy and that has made it more difficult for the Fed to tame inflation.

The government will release a report on wholesale prices Friday that will provide more details on how inflation is affecting businesses. The University of Michigan will release a December survey on consumer sentiment on Friday.

Inflation has been easing and economists expect the upcoming data on wholesale and consumer prices to reflect that trend.

The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by a half-percentage point at its meeting next week. It has raised its benchmark rate six times since March, driving it to a range of 3.75% to 4%, the highest in 15 years. Wall Street expects the benchmark rate to reach a peak range of 5% to 5.25% by the middle of 2023.

A growing number of analysts expect the U.S. economy to slip into a recession in 2023, but are unsure of its potential severity and duration.

In other trading, U.S. crude oil prices rose $1.18 to $73.19 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, it fell 3%, settling at $72.01 per gallon, the lowest price this year.

Brent crude oil gained $1.12 to $78.29 per barrel.

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December 7, 2022
Asian shares slip after tech stock slump on Wall St

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares are mostly lower in Asia after Wall Street sagged under weakness in tech stocks.

U.S. futures edged lower while oil prices rebounded.

Japan revised upward its GDP data to show the economy contracted less than earlier reported in July-September, in a sign the country weathered its latest big COVID wave with less damage than had been thought.

The Cabinet Office reported Thursday that the economy shrank at a 0.8% annual rate in July-September. That was better than minus 1.2% annual growth reported earlier.

In quarterly terms, the world’s third-largest economy contracted 0.2% instead of 0.3%.

Shares rose in Hong Kong as investors studied the potential impact of a rollback of many pandemic restrictions on the Chinese mainland.

On Wednesday, rules on isolating people with COVID-19 were eased and virus test requirements were dropped for some public places in a dramatic change to a strategy that had confined millions of people to their homes and sparked protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.

Experts warned, however, that the “zero-COVID” restrictions can’t be lifted completely until at least mid-2023 because millions of elderly people still must be vaccinated and the health care system strengthened.

“Specifically, there are three reasons to be restrained, if not circumspect, on China cheer. First, the simple point that the unwind of entrenched zero-COVID policies will take time and perhaps be a bumpy process rather than a linear path to instant gratification,” Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.4% to 19,267.52, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.2% to 3,193.14.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 0.6% to 7,183.00 and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1% to 2,360.24. Shares also fell in Bangkok, Mumbai and Taiwan.

Wall Street ended a wobbly day of trading with more losses Wednesday, with the S&P 500 down 0.2% in its fifth straight loss. It closed at 3,933.92.

Technology and communication services stocks were the biggest weights on the benchmark index. Apple fell 1.4% and Google parent Alphabet dropped 2.1%.

The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with tech stocks, fell 0.5% to 10,958.55 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 1.58 point gain, essentially flat, at 33,597.92.

The Russell 2000 index fell 0.3% to 1,806.90.

Treasury yields fell significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, slid to 3.42% from 3.53% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which tends to track market expectations of future action by the Federal Reserve, fell to 4.27% from 4.36%.

Investors have been dealing with a relative lack of news ahead of updates on inflation and consumer sentiment later this week, and the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week. Inflation, the Fed’s aggressive interest rate increases and recession worries remain the big concerns for Wall Street.

U.S. crude oil prices fell 3%, settling at $72.01 per gallon, the lowest price this year. Early Thursday, it was up 67 cents at $72.68 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude oil gained 64 cents to $77.81 per barrel.

Investors are watching for data that may yield more insights into inflation’s path ahead and how the Fed will continue fighting high prices.

The U.S. will release data on weekly unemployment claims on Thursday. The jobs market has been a strong area of the otherwise slowing economy and that has made it more difficult for the Fed to tame inflation.

The government will release a report on wholesale prices Friday that will provide more details on how inflation is affecting businesses. The University of Michigan will release a December survey on consumer sentiment on Friday.

Inflation has been easing and economists expect the upcoming data on wholesale and consumer prices to reflect that trend.

The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by a half-percentage point at its meeting next week. It has raised its benchmark rate six times since March, driving it to a range of 3.75% to 4%, the highest in 15 years. Wall Street expects the benchmark rate to reach a peak range of 5% to 5.25% by the middle of 2023.

A growing number of analysts expect the U.S. economy to slip into a recession in 2023, but are unsure of its potential severity and duration.

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AP Business writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.

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December 7, 2022
Japanese defense minister says North Korean missile launched Friday could potentially reach the entire continental U.S.

Japanese defense minister says North Korean missile launched Friday could potentially reach the entire continental U.S.

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November 17, 2022
S Korea, Japan seek better ties amid NKorea missile tensions

SEOUL, South Korea — The leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed Sunday to keep up efforts to resolve their thorny historical disputes as they’re pushing to bolster security cooperation with the United States to better deal with North Korean nuclear threats.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met twice on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia — with U.S. President Joe Biden and then bilaterally.

In the bilateral meeting, Yoon and Kishida assessed that there has been active communications between their diplomats on “a current issue between the two countries” and agreed to continue consultations to find an early resolution, Yoon’s office said in a statement.

It said the two leaders also agreed to continue their communications.

The statement didn’t elaborate what the issue was, but it apparently referred to a long-running spat over 2018 court rulings in Seoul that ordered two Japanese companies to compensate Koreans who had been mobilized as forced laborers during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The ruling plunged bilateral ties to their lowest point in decades, as the companies and the Japanese government argued that all compensation issues had already been settled under a 1965 treaty that normalized the countries’ relations and refused to comply with the verdicts. The countries later downgraded each other’s trade status and Seoul threatened to abandon an intelligence-sharing deal.

The South Korea-Japan wrangling has complicated U.S. efforts to reinforce a trilateral security alliance with its Asian allies in the face of an increasingly assertive China and an advancing North Korean nuclear program.

South Korean and Japan have been seeking to find ways to resolve the disputes since the May inauguration of Yoon, a conservative who wants to bolter Seoul’s military alliance with the U.S. and improve ties with Japan. Some experts say North Korea’s provocative run of missile tests in recent months has also helped bring Seoul and Tokyo closer together as both are placed within the striking distance of North Korean missiles and feel the need to buttress a security cooperation with the United States.

In their bilateral summit Sunday, Yoon and Kishida renewed their condemnation of the North Korean missile tests that they called “a serious, grave provocation” that undermined regional and international peace. In talks with Biden, the three leaders said in a joint statement that they will work together to strengthen deterrence and ensure all relevant sanctions on North Korea are full enforced. Biden also reiterated that the U.S. commitment to defend Japan and South Korea is “ironclad” and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear.

In September, Yoon and Kishida held their first talks on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly and agreed to accelerate efforts to mend their countries’ ties. That meeting was the first summit between the countries since December 2019.

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November 13, 2022
Japan, US hold joint arms drills amid China, N Korea worry

TOKYO — Japan and the United States began a major joint military exercise Thursday in southern Japan as the allies aim to step up readiness in the face of China’s increasing assertiveness and North Korea’s intensifying missile launches.

The biennial “Keen Sword” drills kicked off at a Japanese air base in southern Japan and were also held at multiple other locations in and around Japan. They will run through Nov. 19.

About 26,000 Japanese and 10,000 American troops, as well as 30 vessels and 370 aircraft from both sides, are to participate in the drills, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. Australia, Britain and Canada will also join parts of the drills, it said.

Joint field trainings that include amphibious landing exercises are planned on southwestern Japanese remote islands, including Tokunoshima, Amami and Tsutarajima, as Japan has been bolstering its defense capability in the region amid growing tensions over China.

China has reinforced its claims to virtually the entire South China Sea by constructing artificial islands equipped with military installations and airfields. Beijing also claims a string of islands that are controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, and has stepped up military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it says is part of China to be annexed by force if necessary.

The joint exercise also comes on the heels of intensifying missile firings by North Korea, which has launched more than 30 of them this year, including one on Wednesday that fell in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Last month, an intercontinental ballistic missile flew over northern Japan.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, citing worsening security in the region, has pledged to substantially increase Japanese military capability and possibly allow pre-emptive strike capability to attack enemy missile launch sites from afar. The plans are expected to be included in a revised national security strategy and mid- to long-term defense guidelines later this year.

A move to develop strike capability is a major shift for Japan’s self-defense-only principle, though the country has rapidly expanded its military’s role and capability in the past decade to work more closely with the United States and other partners in the region and Europe.

Exercises like Keen Sword provide Japanese and U.S. forces “opportunities to train together across a variety of mission areas in realistic scenarios to enhance readiness, interoperability, and build credible deterrence,” U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement Thursday.

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November 10, 2022
N. Korea fires more missiles as US flies bombers over South

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, as the United States sent two supersonic bombers streaking over South Korea in a dueling display of military might that underscored rising tensions in the region.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the four short-range missiles fired from a western coastal area around noon flew about 130 kilometers (80 miles) toward the country’s western sea.

The North has test-fired more than 30 missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that triggered evacuation alerts in northern Japan, and flew large numbers of warplanes inside its territory in an angry reaction to a massive combined aerial exercise between the United States and South Korea.

The South Korean military said two B-1B bombers trained with four U.S. F-16 fighter jets and four South Korean F-35s jets during the last day of the “Vigilant Storm” joint air force drills that wraps up Saturday. It marked the first time since December 2017 that the bombers were deployed to the Korean Peninsula. The exercise involved around 240 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets from both countries.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry late Friday described the country’s military actions this week as an appropriate response to the exercise, which it called a display of U.S. “military confrontation hysteria.” It said North Korea will respond with the “toughest counteraction” to any attempts by “hostile forces” to infringe on its sovereignty or security interests.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the participation of the B-1Bs in the joint drills demonstrated the allies’ readiness to “sternly respond” to North Korean provocations and the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear.

B-1B flyovers had been a familiar show of force during past periods of tensions with North Korea. The planes last appeared in the region in 2017, during another provocative run in North Korean weapons demonstrations. But the flyovers had been halted in recent years as the United States and South Korea stopped their large-scale exercises to support the former Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts with North Korea and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The allies resumed their large-scale training this year after North Korea dialed up its weapons testing to a record pace, exploiting a divide in the U.N. Security Council over Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to accelerate arms development.

North Korea hates such displays of American military might at close range. The North has continued to describe the B-1B as a “nuclear strategic bomber” although the plane was switched to conventional weaponry in the mid-1990s.

Vigilant Storm had been initially scheduled to end Friday, but the allies decided to extend the training to Saturday in response to a series of North Korean ballistic launches on Thursday, including an ICBM that triggered evacuation alerts and halted trains in northern Japan.

Thursday’s launches came after the North fired more than 20 missiles on Wednesday, the most in a single day. Those launches came after North Korean senior military official Pak Jong Chon issued a veiled threat of a nuclear conflict with the United States and South Korea over their joint drills, which the North says are rehearsals for a potential invasion.

South Korea also on Friday scrambled about 80 military aircraft after tracking about 180 flights by North Korean warplanes inside North Korean territory. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean warplanes were detected in various areas inland and along the country’s eastern and western coasts, but did not come particularly close to the Koreas’ border. The South Korean military spotted about 180 flight trails from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., but it wasn’t immediately clear how many North Korean planes were involved and whether some may have flown more than once.

In Friday’s statement attributed to an unidentified spokesperson, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the United States and South Korea had created a seriously “unstable atmosphere” in the region with their military exercises. It accused the United States of mobilizing its allies in a campaign using sanctions and military threats to pressure North Korea to unilaterally disarm.

“The sustained provocation is bound to be followed by sustained counteraction,” the statement said.

North Korea has launched dozens of ballistic missiles this year, including multiple ICBMs and an intermediate-range missile flown over Japan. South Korean officials say there are indications North Korea in coming weeks could detonate its first nuclear test device since 2017. Experts say North Korea is attempting to force the United States to accept it as a nuclear power and seeks to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.

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November 5, 2022
US, allies warn decisive response if North Korea tests nuke

TOKYO — Officials from the United States and its Asian allies Japan and South Korea suspect North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test, and vice foreign ministers from the three countries said Wednesday their joint response would be “decisive.”

Cho Hyundong, South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister, said the trio is bolstering their defense cooperation to deter the growing possibility of North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons since the adoption in September of legislation spelling out scenarios where it would use nukes, including preemptively.

North Korea’s new nuclear policy is “creating a serious tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Cho told a joint news conference after talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori.

“South Korea and the U.S. will step up their extended deterrence by utilizing all the elements of the national power and show an overwhelming, decisive response to any use of a nuclear weapon by North Korea,” Cho said.

In 2022 alone, North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic missiles at unprecedented pace, including one that overflew northern Japan in early October. It has also fired a barrage of artilleries toward the south in response to South Korea’s joint military exercises with the United States, which Pyongyang views as a practice to invade the country.

Sherman, during her meeting with Cho on Tuesday ahead of the three-way talks, criticized North Korea’s military actions as “irresponsible, dangerous and destabilizing” and said the United States will fully use its military capabilities, including nuclear, as she warned North Korea against escalating its provocations.

Sherman stressed again Wednesday that the cooperation among the three countries are “ironclad,” citing signs of Japan and South Korea improving their troubled ties over historical wartime-related disputes.

“There is so much we can achieve and are achieving when our countries work together,” Sherman said.

It was the second in-person meeting of the three officials since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May, signaling an improvement in difficult ties between Tokyo and Seoul. A year ago in Washington, Japanese and South Korean vice ministers declined to participate in a joint news conference after their talks, leaving Sherman to make a solo media appearance.

The three officials also condemned Russia’s nuclear threat, as well as any other escalation of threats, and its unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called dirty bomb — which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste — as unacceptable.

Mori said the three officials also agreed to closely watch China’s maritime activity in the East and South China Seas and the situation in the Taiwan Strait under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s third term.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the Asia-Pacific region at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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October 26, 2022
US vows full military defense of allies against North Korea

TOKYO — The United States will make full use of its military capabilities, “including nuclear, conventional and missile defense,” to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday as she warned North Korea against escalating its provocations.

Sherman said North Korea’s repeated firings of ballistic missiles and artillery in recent weeks were provocative military actions. North Korea has described them as practice runs for the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

“This is deeply irresponsible, dangerous, and destabilizing,” Sherman said in talks in Tokyo with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyundong. The two officials met ahead of a three-way meeting with their Japanese counterpart on Wednesday.

It would be the second in-person meeting of the three officials since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May, signaling an improvement in difficult ties between Japan and South Korea. A year ago, Japanese and South Korean vice ministers declined to participate in a joint news conference after three-way talks in Washington, leaving Sherman to make a solo media appearance.

Sherman said North Korea needs to understand that the U.S. commitment to the security of South Korea and Japan is “ironclad.”

“And we will use the full range of U.S. defense capabilities to defend our allies, including nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities,” she said.

Cho, during his talks with Sherman, raised concern that a new North Korean nuclear weapons policy adopted in September increases the possibility of its arbitrary use of nuclear weapons.

“This is creating serious tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Cho said.

Sherman met earlier Tuesday with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and reaffirmed the further strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance and other shared goals, including the complete denuclearization of North Korea and their joint response to China’s increasingly assertive actions in the region.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada recently said North Korea is believed to have achieved a miniaturization of nuclear warheads while significantly advancing its missile capabilities by diversifying its launch technologies, making interceptions more difficult.

Japanese officials have also warned of a possible nuclear test by North Korea in the near future.

The Japanese and South Korean officials met together later Tuesday and discussed ways to improve their countries’ ties, which were badly strained over disagreements stemming from Japanese wartime actions, including abuse of Korean forced laborers and coercing girls and young women to work in brothels for Japanese soldiers.

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This story corrects the given name of South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho to Hyundong, not Hyungdong.

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October 26, 2022
NKorea launches 2 missiles toward sea after US-SKorea drills

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Sunday, the latest of its recent barrage of weapons tests, a day after the North warned the redeployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula was inflaming regional tensions.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected two missile launches Sunday between 1:48 a.m. and 1:58 a.m. from the North’s eastern coastal city of Munchon. It added that South Korea’s military has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States.

Japanese Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches, saying the North’s testing activities are “absolutely unacceptable” as they threaten regional and international peace and security.

Ino said the weapons could be submarine-launched ballistic missiles. “We are continuing to analyze details of the missiles, including a possibility that they might have been launched from the sea,” Ino said.

North Korea’s pursuit of an ability to fire missiles from a submarine would constitute an alarming development for its rivals because it’s harder to detect such launches in advance. North Korea was believed to have last tested a missile launch from a submarine in May.

Ino said both missiles launched Sunday flew about 350 kilometers (217 miles) at a maximum attitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles) before they fell into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida separately instructed officials to gather and analyze all information they could and expedite any updates about the tests to the public. His office said it also was seeking to ensure the safety of all aircraft and ships in waters around Japan while preparing for any contingencies.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches didn’t pose any immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to its allies. But it said the launches highlight “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. It said the U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad.”

The launch, the North’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks, came hours after the United States and South Korea wrapped up a new round of two-day naval drills off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.

The drills involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group, which returned to the area after North Korea fired a powerful missile over Japan last week to protest the carrier group’s previous training with South Korea.

On Saturday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry warned that the Reagan’s redeployment was causing a “considerably huge negative splash” in regional security. The North’s Defense Ministry called its recent missile tests a “righteous reaction” to intimidating military drills between South Korea and the United States.

North Korea regards U.S.-South Korean military exercises as an invasion rehearsal and is especially sensitive if such drills involve U.S. strategic assets such as an aircraft carrier. North Korea has argued it was forced to pursue a nuclear weapons program to cope with U.S. nuclear threats. U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intentions of attacking the North.

North Korea’s latest launches added to its record-breaking pace of weapons tests this year. The recent weapons tests included a nuclear-capable missile that flew over Japan for the first time in five years. It was estimated to have traveled about 4,500-4,600 kilometers (2,800-2,860 miles), a distance sufficient to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.

Sunday’s launches came on the eve of the 77th foundation anniversary of the North Korean ruling Workers’ Party.

Earlier this year, North Korea tested other nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that place the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan within striking distance.

North Korea’s testing spree indicates its leader, Kim Jong Un, has no intention of resuming diplomacy with the U.S. and wants to focus on expanding his weapons arsenal. But some experts say Kim would eventually aim to use his advanced nuclear program to wrest greater outside concessions, such as the recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state, which Kim thinks is essential in getting crippling U.N. sanctions on his country lifted.

South Korean officials recently said North Korea was also prepared to test a new liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile while maintaining readiness to perform its first underground nuclear test since 2017.

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October 8, 2022
North Korea fires 4th round of missile tests in 1 week

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Saturday fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, South Korean and Japanese officials said, making it the North’s fourth round of weapons launches this week that are seen as a response to military drills among its rivals.

South Korea’s military said that it detected the two North Korean missile launches 18 minutes apart on Saturday morning coming from the North’s capital region. Japan’s Defense Ministry said it also spotted the launches.

“The repeated ballistic missile firings by North Korea are a grave provocation that undermines peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the international community,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

It said South Korea strongly condemns the launches and urges North Korea to stop testing ballistic missiles.

Toshiro Ino, Japan’s vice defense minister, called the launches “absolutely impermissible.” He said the four rounds of missile testing by North Korea in a week is “unprecedented.”

According to South Korean and Japanese estimates, the North Korean missiles flew about 350-400 kilometers (220-250 miles) at a maximum altitude of 30-50 kilometers (20-30 miles) before they landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Ino, the Japanese vice minister, said the missiles showed “irregular” trajectory. The five other ballistic missiles fired by North Korea on three occasions this week also show similar low trajectories.

Some experts say that the weapons are a nuclear-capable, highly maneuverable missiles modeled after Russia’s Iskander missile. That Iskander-like missile is capable of striking strategic targets in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.

Saturday’s launches came a day after South Korea, Japan and the United States held their first trilateral anti-submarine drills in five years off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast. Earlier this week, South Korean and U.S. warships conducted bilateral exercises in the area for four days. Both military drills this week involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group.

North Korea views such military drills among its rivals as an invasion rehearsal and often responds with its own weapons tests.

The North Korean missile tests this week also came before and after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited South Korea on Thursday and reaffirmed the “ironclad” U.S. commitment to the security of its Asian allies.

This year, North Korea has carried out a record number of missile tests in what experts call an attempt to expand its weapons arsenal amid stalled nuclear diplomacy with the United States. The weapons tested this year included nuclear-capable missiles with the ability to reach the U.S. mainland, South Korea and Japan.

South Korean and U.S. officials say North Korea has also completed preparations to conduct a nuclear test, which would be its first in five years.

Experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un eventually wants to use the enlarged nuclear arsenal to pressure the United States and others accept his country as a legitimate nuclear state, a recognition he views as necessary to win the lifting of international sanctions and other concessions.

Multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from testing ballistic missiles and nuclear devices. The country’s missile launches this year are seen as exploiting a divide at the U.N. council over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and U.S.-China competitions.

In May, China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-led attempt to toughen sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile launches.

“North Korea’s frequent short-range missile tests may strain the isolated state’s resources. But because of deadlock on the U.N. Security Council, they are a low-cost way for the Kim regime to signal its displeasure with Washington and Seoul’s defense exercises while playing the domestic politics of countering an external threat,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.

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October 1, 2022