South Korean marines stand besides the self-propelled surface to air missile system 'Cheonma' on Baengnyeong Island near the western maritime border between the two Koreas, December 3, 2010. South Korea said on Friday it would bomb North Korea if it tries a repeat of last week's attack, with the United States warning of an "immediate threat" fromPyongyang. Kim Kwan, a retired general, was speaking at a parliamentary meeting confirming him as new defence minister, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said North Korea threatened the region and the world.
A draft appendix to the guidelines to be updated as early as next week covering the five years from April 2011 also stipulates equipping all six Aegis destroyers with Standard Missile-3 interceptors while cutting tanks and artillery by about 200 each to 400, the government and Self-Defense Forces officials said.
Along with a plan to increase the number of submarines from 16 to 22 for enhanced vigilance around the Nansei chain of islands in the southwest centering on Okinawa, the planned defense posture is apparently aimed at dealing with North Korea and deterring China.
The move comes amid heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island last month, and China's rapid military buildup and increasing naval activity.
The PAC-3 missile system, which is designed to shoot down an incoming missile from the ground before it lands, will be deployed to all six of the Air Self-Defense Force's air defense missile groups from three at present, according to the officials.
The three groups are located at Iruma base in Saitama Prefecture, which covers the Tokyo metropolitan area, Kasuga base in Fukuoka Prefecture, which is responsible for security in the southwestern Kyushu region, and Gifu base aimed at defending Nagoya in central Japan and Osaka in western Japan.
The remaining three ASDF bases in Chitose in Hokkaido, Misawa in Aomori Prefecture and Naha in Okinawa Prefecture are currently equipped with PAC-2 missiles designed to shoot down enemy aircraft.
The government is eyeing transferring some PAC-3 missiles to Chitose and Misawa in the country's north from the bases at which they are currently deployed, while introducing new PAC-3s to Naha in southwestern Japan under the fiscal 2011 budget.
As for the SM-3 sea-launched interceptors, four of the Maritime Self- Defense Force's six Aegis destroyers are equipped at present with the missiles designed to intercept an enemy missile before it enters the Earth's atmosphere.
The increase in MSDF submarines, meanwhile, is planned as no SDF units are deployed west of Miyako Island near Taiwan and China, making it what the Defense Ministry calls a defense "vacuum."
The draft appendix also includes details such as the ministry's list of equipment and number of troop units, the officials said.
The number of MSDF escort ships will be increased from 47 to 48 while major operational aircraft will be trimmed from 350 to 340 due in part to the larger size of transport planes, according to the appendix.
As for the closely watched issue of the Ground Self-Defense Force's troop strength, the government is in the final stages of deciding whether to maintain it at the current 155,000 or reduce it to 151,000 at most.
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