The three countries activated a three-way real-time system to share data to track North Korean missiles on Tuesday, as Pyongyang confirmed testing a solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile a day earlier, The Japan Times reported.
“The launch of the real-time sharing mechanism will make it possible to share missile warning data among the three countries on a continuous basis. This marks a new page in defense cooperation among our three nations.”
The nations also jointly developed a multi-year plan for trilateral military exercises, part of the November agreement, as Seoul, Tokyo and Washington seek to forge closer security ties to better defend themselves against North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats. According to the statement, the multi-year joint exercise plan “will enable the three countries to conduct their training in a more systematic and efficient manner by regularizing it in the future.”
Amid a very difficult security environment, including the situation in North Korea, cooperation among the three countries is indispensable for regional peace and stability.
According to Japan’s Defence Ministry, during a flight test of North Korea’s solid-fueled Hwasong-18 ICBM on Monday, the weapon flew for about 73 minutes and then landed in waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, about 250 kilometres west of Okushiri Island in Hokkaido.
The purpose of the exercise, according to North Korean media, was to test “the combat readiness of the DPRK’s [the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] nuclear war deterrence and confirm its mobility, combat capability and reliability.”
According to Tokyo, the missile was launched on a “lofted” trajectory, meaning it was launched on a steep vertical trajectory, reaching a maximum altitude of more than 6,000 kilometres and flying about 1,000 kilometres. In its report, KCNA claimed that the missile reached a maximum altitude of 6,518.2 kilometres.
Japan estimates the operating range of the Hwasong-18 at 15,000 kilometres, putting the entire United States within striking distance.
Last month, North Korea celebrated the successful launch of its first military spy satellite, possibly with the help of Russia. However, under UN sanctions favoured by Moscow, North Korea is banned from using ballistic missile technology.
Solid-propellant missiles give North Korea significant advantages over the liquid-propellant weapons that make up the bulk of Pyongyang’s arsenal. They are easier to deploy and can be launched more quickly, giving the United States and its allies less time for satellites to detect and subsequently destroy them.
The US, South Korea and Japan sharply condemned the launch on Monday. However, China’s top diplomat met with a senior North Korean delegation on Monday just hours after the missile test, with both sides expressing support and confidence in their countries’ ties.
Pyongyang’s recent surge of missile launches and other weapons tests has become a key factor in improving security co-operation between Tokyo, Seoul and Washington, prompting Japan and South Korea to put aside long-standing historical and political disputes.
The trilateral and bilateral rapprochement culminated in a historic treaty at the leaders’ August summit at Camp David, which laid the groundwork for institutionalising future defence cooperation, including the sharing of real-time missile warning data. Under the plan, the partners independently linked their radars to a common platform at the US Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii.
Japan experienced challenges tracking some North Korean launches due to limited radar coverage, while South Korean radars can detect missiles immediately after the launch and sometimes just before lift-off due to proximity.
Sharing this data is becoming increasingly important as North Korea creates more manoeuvrable missiles capable of bypassing defences.
