Former Defense Minister Onodera coordinates visit to Ukraine... Survey on the status of Russian-North Korean military solidarity

Coordinating former Defense Minister Onodera's visit to Ukraine... “Investigation into the actual status of Russia-North Korea military solidarity”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Byeong-gyu = The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 27th that Japan's former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera is coordinating a visit to Ukraine this month to investigate the evolving unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) technology on the battlefield and the status of military solidarity between Russia and North Korea.

Former Defense Minister Onodera, a member of the House of Representatives, is a representative 'defense expert' of the Liberal Democratic Party who served as the 12th, 17th, and 18th Defense Minister. Yomiuri explained that former Defense Minister Onodera intended to play a role in discussions on strengthening defense capabilities before the revision of the three security guarantee documents at the end of the year.

Military drones are an area that the Japanese government, which is eagerly seeking to transform itself into a 'nation capable of war,' sees as one of the keys to 'strengthening its defense capabilities.'

The Japanese government is considering introducing unmanned aerial vehicles into the Self-Defense Forces and has plans to establish a new department dedicated to drones in the Ground Self-Defense Force. The Ministry of Defense has allocated a budget of approximately 8.9 trillion yen (approximately 76.2 trillion won), the largest ever, to the deployment of interceptor unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) for next year.

Earlier this month, the Ground Self-Defense Force disclosed to the media guerrilla suppression training using a small attack unmanned aerial vehicle (Drone 40) at the Ojojihara Training Center in Miyagi Prefecture.

Yomiuri said, “Russia and Ukraine are each deploying a large number of various drones in the war that has been going on since 2022, and the methods of attack and defense (using drones) are becoming more and more evolved.” He added, “Drones are the basis of ‘new methods of combat,’ such as connecting unmanned aerial vehicles and satellites to a network and resolving the collected information with artificial intelligence (AI).”

The newspaper reported a statement from a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party that "the sense of crisis that only Japan could become a 'Galapagos' (isolation) is growing stronger," and explained, "Former Defense Minister Onodera has a goal of absorbing the latest knowledge (related to drones) through local inspections and exchange of opinions with military and civilian officials."