Fumio Kishida News

North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Thursday, Seoul's military said, hours after Pyongyang sent hundreds of trash-filled balloons across the border to punish South Korea. The launch follows a failed attempt by the nuclear-armed North to put a second spy satellite into orbit on Monday, shortly after Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo held a rare summit and called for Pyongyang to give up their nukes. Kim Jong Un's powerful sister on Thursday referred to the balloon barrage, which reportedly contained animal faeces, as «sincere presents» for the South in a statement, saying they were justified retaliation for anti-Kim propaganda sent northwards by activists.

Leaders of China and Japan arrived in Seoul to meet separately with South Korea's president on Sunday, a day before they gather for their first trilateral meeting in more than four years. No major announcement is expected from Monday's trilateral South Korea-China-Japan meeting. But just resuming their highest-level, three-way talks is a good sign and suggests the three Asian neighbors are intent on improving their relations.

Japan and the United States on Wednesday signed an arrangement to jointly develop a new type of missile defense system as the allies seek to defend against the growing threat of hypersonic weapons, which are possessed by China and Russia and being tested by North Korea. The project was initially agreed between Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden at their summit last August and reaffirmed between the leaders during Kishida's April visit to Washington. The Glide Sphere Interceptor is planned for deployment by the mid-2030s. Wednesday's agreement determines the allocation of responsibility and decision-making process, a first major step in the project, Japanese defense ministry officials said. They hope to decide on Japanese contractors and start the development process by March 2025.

Japan and the United States are planning to develop interceptors to shoot down hypersonic missiles by the 2030s under a contract signed by the two countries on Wednesday. The plan, which will reportedly cost more than $3 billion, was first announced in August when the nations' leaders met at a summit with South Korea in Camp David outside Washington. «In recent years, around Japan, missile-related technologies such as hypersonic weapons have improved dramatically,» the defence ministry said in a statement about the agreement to jointly develop the so-called Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI).

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has unveiled an international framework for regulation and use of generative AI

Joe Biden has called two of his QUAD partners — India and Japan — and two of his adversaries — Russia and China — "xenophobic" nations, asserting that none of these countries, unlike the United States, welcome immigrants. «This election is about freedom, America and democracy. That's why I badly need you. You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,» Biden told his supporters at a fundraiser here on Wednesday evening.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he will stress the need for a rules-based international order when he attends a meeting of the Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris

Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, wants the government to carry out “immediate” crypto tax reforms.

U.S. Steel shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the firm’s sale to Nippon Steel of Japan for $14.1 billion in cash, voicing unequivocal support for a combination that has drawn opposition from the Biden administration on economic and national secu...

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is cementing economic links and cultural amity with North Carolina by visiting the Tar Heel state after a few days in Washington focused on global security issues

Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, while seeking to assure China it was not a target. «I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important,» Marcos told a press conference in Washington a day after meeting President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the nations' first trilateral summit. «It is going to change the dynamic, the dynamic that we see in the region, in ASEAN in Asia, around the South China Sea,» Marcos said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The U.S. and Japan have outlined plans to invest in infrastructure, semiconductor and nickel projects in the Philippines as the three countries seek to deepen ties amid tensions with China. The initiatives, outlined in a joint statement by the countries’ leaders late Thursday, were announced as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Biden said Thursday that U.S. defense commitment to Pacific allies was «ironclad» as he gathered Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in the midst of growing concern about provocative Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. and the Philippines have had a mutual treaty in place for more than 70 years. Biden's forceful reinforcement of the American commitment comes in the midst of persistent skirmishes between the Philippine and Chinese coast guards in the disputed South China Sea. «The United States defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad. They're ironclad,» Biden said as he began three-way talks at the White House with Kishida and Marcos. «As I said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.»

Fermi Paradox have stated that the contradiction between the high probability of alien life existing and the complete lack of evidence for it, may have been tied to the AI development among human on Earth. According to a report published by Michael Garrett, it is suggested that AI's evolution into Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) could be the ‘Great Filter’, keeping alien evidence away. The Great Filter theory says that a hurdle that intelligent life must overcome to become advanced and interstellar.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has begun his much-anticipated visit to Washington

Japan last weekend, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday, ahead of U.S. summits this week with the Japanese and Philippine leaders. Warships from the four nations staged the exercises on Sunday following stepped up Chinese pressure on the Philippines in the disputed strategic waterway. U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington on Wednesday and the two and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos will meet on Thursday for talks that will include ways to push back against China.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited a new semiconductor plant for which his government has pledged more than $7 billion of support to secure a steady supply of chips

Japan and the Philippines head to Washington this week for a first trilateral summit aimed at boosting defence ties, hot on the heels of four-way military drills in the South China Sea that riled Beijing. A major upgrade of military command structures between the United States and an increasingly self-confident Japan could be announced, as well as joint coast guard patrols with Manila in areas disputed with China. Also on the agenda will be securing access to vital supplies such as semiconductors and rare metals, North Korea's growing belligerence, and the Japanese takeover of US Steel opposed by President Joe Biden.

China whenever Japan, engages in military and security-related activities. On March 26, as Japan removed restrictions on transfer of defence technology in order to allow the worldwide export of advanced fighter jets that it is jointly developing with Italy and the UK, China expressed its concern on the development. “China noted relevant reports and expresses grave concern over the decision. Given Japan’s not-too-distant history of militarist aggression, Japan’s military and security moves are closely watched by its Asian neighbours and the international community,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said. The Japanese government-led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida approved revised export rules on transfer of defence equipment and technology after the ruling outfit, the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Komeito Party agreed on these rules, according to a report in The Japan Times.

US military plans to bolster functions of its command headquarters in Japan, as it aims for smoother cooperation with the Asian country's self-defence forces in tackling security threats posed by China and North Korea according to diplomatic sources cited by Kyodo news agency. Japan and the United States will also work on further steps to enhance their response capabilities, Kyodo reported. Tokyo had in 2022 decided to acquire the capability to strike enemy bases even under Japan's war-renouncing Constitution. Also, Japan is set to establish a joint headquarters to command its ground, maritime and air forces by the end of March 2025 with Kishida's government is aiming to deepen cooperation between the US military and the joint headquarters.

(This March 14 story has been refiled to fix a spelling error in the CEO's last name throughout the story)