TOKYO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Defense Ministry on Monday 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Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture that Typhon intermediate-range missile system deployed at the local U.S. base had been withdrawn.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-Defense 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 Defense 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. ■