Japan to Hit Any Guam-Bound North Korea Missile

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test. U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency/Handout via Reuters

Japan could legally intercept a North Korean missile headed towards Guam, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Thursday in remarks reported by Kyodo news service.

Onodera told a lower house of parliament committee that Japan would be allowed to hit a missile headed towards the U.S. Pacific territory if it was judged to be an existential threat to Japan, Kyodo said. This is a reiteration of the Japanese government’s position.

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers fly from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for a 10-hour mission, with an escort of a pair of Japan Self-Defense Forces F-2 fighter jets in the vicinity of Kyushu, Japan August 8, 2017. U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS