(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I have two announcements today. The first is about the extension of staff officers’ dispatch to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Currently, four Self-Defense Force (SDF) personnel are dispatched to UNMISS as staff officers. During the cabinet meeting that was just held today, April 19, it was decided that two more SDF personnel will be dispatched, and that the dispatch period will be extended according to the United Nations Security Council Resolution. We plan to additionally dispatch a Ground Self-Defense Force colonel as vice chief of staff in charge of human resources, evaluations, and training. This is the highest-ranking personnel to be dispatched as a staff officer to the headquarters of United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Operations (PKO), and we consider it to be extremely meaningful also for training SDF personnel for international operations. Furthermore, UNMISS is the only UN PKO to which Japan currently dispatches personnel. The Ministry of Defense (MOD)/SDF will continue to make contributions toward sustaining and strengthening UN peace efforts through dispatching SDF personnel.
The second announcement is about the number of scrambles in FY2023. In FY2023, the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) scrambled 669 times. Of this number, 479 were against Chinese aircraft and 174 were against Russian aircraft. In FY2023, we confirmed two instances of long-distance joint flights by Chinese and Russian bombers in Japan’s periphery. It also confirmed for the first time a Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle flying through airspace between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan as well as over the Sea of Japan. In this way, Chinese and Russian aircraft continue to operate actively in airspace surrounding Japan. MOD/SDF will continue to make all efforts to monitor the airspace vigilantly and rigorously implement measures against airspace intrusions.