US trying to boost Japan’s defense against North Korea: Former Pentagon official
The United States is deploying advanced warships to Japan in order to boost its defensive capability against North Korea, which is threatening the region, a former Pentagon official in Washington says.
Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst at the US Department of Defense, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday. He was commenting on the Pentagon’s decision to deploy modern warships to Japan’s Yokosuka Naval Base.
The United States has sent the Navy destroyer USS Benfold to Japan. According to the Associated Press, Benfold’s departure is part of the Pentagon’s plan to send the most advanced and capable hardware to Asia, as China and North Korea increase their military posture.
The Navy destroyer left San Diego on Friday and will be deployed at Yokosuka Naval Base, which is home to the US 7th Fleet. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived on Thursday at Yokosuka, replacing the USS George Washington.
“I think politically what the United States is trying to do is reassure Japan that they have their back, they guarantee their security, and in exchange for them not to undertaking this other independent course of extending their own military, which would then create other issues, and other problems in the region, and particularly with China,” Maloof said.
“China and Japan still to this day have real issues pending from the World War II and even before,” he added.
“I think the United States is trying to bolster confidence in Japan that the United States will back them especially towards North Korea, which is planning some new missile launches and nuclear tests,” he reiterated.
“And this always creates tremendous anxiety and especially at a time when the Chinese have no longer control over North Korea that they used to,” the analyst stated.
“So this creates another level of uncertainly that the world has to really deal with it, not Japan and the United States,” he noted.
“I think China is trying to do what it can to keep North Korea under control but the leader of North Korea recently did a military purge to get rid off of most of those people who were the liaison to the Chinese government, which is another signal that they are going to be very uncertain days ahead,” Maloof pointed out.
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