US military to deploy spy plane in Japan

6 April AFP

The US military is set to deploy an unmanned spy plane in Japan to boost surveillance capabilities as North Korea apparently readied for missile launches, a newspaper report said.

The Global Hawk will be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan, in the first ever deployment of the aircraft in the country, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting government sources.

The US military informed Japan last month about plans to deploy the plane between June and September but may bring the date forward, it said, following reports about North Korea's preparations for missile launches.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing a top South Korean government official, said North Korea had loaded two mid-range Musudan missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.

The Musudan have never been tested but are believed to have a range of around 3,000 kilometres (1,860 miles), which could theoretically be pushed to 4,000 if they were to be given a light payload.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.

Meanwhile,China's new President Xi Jinping is urged to crack down on the regime in North Korea or face an increased US military presence in the region, The New York Times reported.

Citing unnamed administration officials, the newspaper said the recent US exchanges with China included a phone call from President Barack Obama to Xi.

US officials briefed the Chinese in detail about US plans to upgrade missile defenses and other steps to deter the threats made by North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong-un, the report said. China has not protested publicly or privately as the United States has deployed ships and warplanes to the Korean Peninsula, the paper noted.

That silence attests to both Beijing's mounting frustration with North Korea and the recognition that its reflexive support for Pyongyang could strain its ties with Washington, the report said.

“The timing of this is important,” The Times quoted US national security adviser Tom Donilon as saying in an interview.

“It will be an important early exercise between the United States and China, early in the term of Xi Jinping and early in the second term of President Obama.” According to the paper, in the coming weeks, the White House will send a stream of senior officials to China to press its case, starting with Secretary of State John Kerry, who will travel to Beijing next Saturday.

In the short run, the report said, the administration wants the Chinese to be rigorous in customs inspections to interdict the flow of banned goods to North Korea. But in the long run, it wants China to persuade Kim to cease his provocations and agree to negotiations on giving up his nuclear program, The Times said.