TOKYO, Nov 18 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s Defence Ministry, yesterday informed the city of Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture that, Typhon intermediate-range missile system, deployed at the local U.S. base had been withdrawn.
Japan’s Self-Defence Forces and the U.S. military, conducted a large-scale joint drill from Sept 11 to Sept 25, across Japan’s Kyushu and other areas, during which the U.S. military deployed Typhon system in Japan for the first time.
Kyodo News quoted sources from Iwakuni City as saying that, the Defence Ministry had previously promised to remove the system about a week after the exercise ended.
Civic groups from Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures on Nov 10, submitted a petition, calling on the Japanese government to urge the U.S. military to withdraw its Typhon system, deployed in Iwakuni, amid concerns that the temporary deployment under the guise of a joint exercise could become permanent.– NNN-NHK
