North Korea’s Threat Pushes Japan to Reassess Its Might and Rights<br />On Friday, North Korea threatened to “sink” Japanese islands with nuclear weapons, adding that “Japan is no longer needed to exist near us.”<br />Japan’s position east of North Korea also means that missiles fired by the North toward the<br />United States, including Guam, almost certainly would have to fly over Japanese territory.<br />Because if you miss, how does that look?”<br />North Korea has stated its clear intention to develop nuclear weapons capable of hitting the mainland United States<br />and has threatened to strike the waters near Guam in the western Pacific with an “enveloping fire.”<br />Two years ago, Mr. Abe helped push through security legislation<br />that authorized overseas combat missions by the Japanese military alongside allied troops in the name of “collective self-defense.”<br />For Japan to participate in such collective action, the new laws say, its own security must also be under threat.<br />It is also unclear whether the pacifist Constitution allows Japan to shoot down a missile headed for the United States, much less<br />initiate a pre-emptive attack on a missile on a launchpad in North Korea, as some in Japan believe it should be prepared to do.
