Following swipe at Japan over North Korea trade, Trump offers weapons

Amid his tour of Asia, President Donald J. Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Following the meeting, Trump expressed his disappointment with Abe for not ordering that a North Korean ballistic missile was not shot down when fired over Japan proper. He also insisted that, should Japan follow through with this latest arms deal, they will be capable of not only shooting down the offending missiles, but defending themselves in general.

Japan has been a close US ally since their defeat in 1945 during World War Two, being that they have maintained strong diplomatic, economic, and militaristic ties with the US, making them one of the US’s closest allies in Asia. Most of their military was destroyed in the conflict and what was left found itself heavily disarmed by restrictions of military agreed to at the negotiation of the closure of the war aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

With the threat of Soviet incursion growing as the interests of the Soviet Union and Communist authorities therein returning from the warfront in Germany, Japan found itself in need of a serious defensive capacity- One the US was all too happy to provide. This was the start of a large arms economy building between the countries, with the vast majority of the Japanese Defense Force being of either outdated or surplus US equipment and a large portion of one of Japan’s most significant islands, Okinawa, having more Americans than Japanese as a result of a hefty US military base on the island.

As threats renew with the growth of North Korean military capability in the Sea of Japan, it seems the US is going to do exactly what it did in the late 40’s through the early 70’s, and that’s rebuild a heavy presence in the Japanese mainland, being through military equipment or personnel. This influx of US presence in the area could relight tensions between Japan and China, North Korea, Russia, or it could intimidate the prestated nations into staying back.

The arms deal with Japan is not the only US push into the region, with Trump’s tour of the continent reaching to four more nations past visiting Japan.