Society

Japan to change location of missile defense system amid local outcry

May 07 (Japan Today) - Japan will find a new location for its new Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system amid strong local opposition to deployment in the northeastern city of Akita, government sources said Wednesday.

The government had hoped to introduce the U.S.-developed system to a Ground Self-Defense Force training area in Akita's Araya district by 2025, but may have to push back that plan as it looks at other candidate sites within the same prefecture.

The Aegis Ashore will supplement the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis-equipped destroyers in protecting Japan from North Korean ballistic missiles.

The government decided in 2017 to deploy two batteries to counter the threat of North Korean missiles, with one in Akita Prefecture and another in the GSDF's Mutsumi training area straddling Hagi and Abu in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, as candidate sites.

Together, the Aegis batteries are expected to start operation in 2025 at the earliest.

But the plan is unpopular with local residents concerned about the health effects of electromagnetic waves emitted by the Aegis Ashore's radar, as well as the possibility that it could become a target in an armed conflict.

Local sentiment further soured after a geographical survey used by the Defense Ministry as the basis for picking the sites was found to contain numerical errors.

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