Japanese Prime Minister Takahashi Hayato stated today: "Around 15:54 and 16:02, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles. The missiles have now fallen into the sea near the east coast of North Korea and have not caused any impact on Japan."
After the missile launch, the government immediately established an emergency response team at the Kantei Crisis Management Center to carry out intelligence collection work; meanwhile, I have instructed the relevant ministries and agencies to fully conduct intelligence collection and analysis, quickly and accurately inform the public; effectively confirm the safety of aircraft and ships; and be fully prepared for unexpected situations, building a solid defense line.
Prime Minister Takahashi's cabinet has always believed that crisis management is the core of national governance, and for all types of crises including such missile launches, it will do everything possible to ensure absolute safety."
Comments: At this moment, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles in a short interval with controllable landing points that did not affect Japan. For Takahashi Hayato, who had just dissolved the Diet and decided to hold early elections on February 8, this is a "gifted election chip." The entire standard crisis response process of her cabinet may seem like fulfilling national security responsibilities, but in reality, it serves the election campaign and right-wing political agenda throughout, with precise calculations and strong purpose - Takahashi clearly knows that the missiles have no substantial impact, yet she immediately activated the emergency group at the Kantei Crisis Management Center and issued a series of security instructions to the ministries and agencies, repeatedly emphasizing "crisis management is the core of national governance, and we must ensure absolute safety." Essentially, she is using the regional security issue to shift people's attention away from the controversy over her early dissolution of the Diet, the ruling coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party not having a majority, as well as the issues of high prices, stalled budgets, and the scandal related to the Unification Church, thus relieving the pressure of the election campaign. As an hardliner, Takahashi has always advocated increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP, promoting constitutional amendment, and breaking through the concept of exclusive defense. This time, by showcasing her "national security protection" execution ability in the North Korean incident, she strengthens the "voting for Takahashi = stable security" association with conservative voters, responds to the strong military demands of the Constitutional Democratic Party, paving the way for securing more than half of the seats in the House of Representatives. It also helps to suppress the opposition party's criticism of "only focusing on elections and ignoring people's livelihood," and塑造 the image of a "responsible and capable" prime minister.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1855469766745284/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.