The President's Daily Brief - December 10th, 2025: Japan’s New “Missile Archipelago” Stuns Beijing & Joint China-Russia Flyover Against South Korea

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A major military buildup is underway as Japan races to construct a “missile archipelago” designed to counter China’s expanding power near Taiwan. South Korea scrambles fighter jets after Chinese and Russian warplanes enter its air-defense zone, underscoring tighter coordination between Beijing and Moscow. New reporting claims Israeli operatives conducted both open and covert surveillance on U.S. and partner officials at a joint base involved in Gaza planning. And in today’s Back of the Brief — UAE-backed separatists tighten their grip on southern Yemen, threatening to split the already troubled country. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Tax Relief Advocates: End your tax nightmare today by visiting us online at https://TRA.com/podcast  Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold TriTails Premium Beef: Get 15% OFF the ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ steak box. Order by Dec 14 at https://TriTailsBeef.com   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Wednesday, the 10th of December. This month is just flying by, if I'm not incorrect, you've got two weeks. weeks of Christmas shopping time left. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, a major military build-up is underway as Japan races to construct what's being called a missile archipelago aimed squarely at countering China's aggressiveness near Taiwan. Later in the show, South Korea scrambles fighter jets after Chinese and Russian warplanes enter its air defense zone, signaling tighter military coordination, of course, between Beijing and Moscow.

Plus, sources say Israeli teams conducted surveillance on U.S. and allied officials at a joint base involved in Gaza planning. And in today's back of the brief, UAE-backed separatists tighten their grip on southern Yemen, threatening to split the already troubled country. But first, today's PDB spotlight. Last month on this show, we told you about Japan's decision to deploy a surface-to-air missile system to Yonaguni, that's the tiny Japanese island just 68 miles from Taiwan's coast. At the time, Tokyo described it as a defensive upgrade, one battery, one island, meant to help detect

and intercept hostile aircraft or drones. Well, based on new reporting, it turns out that deployment was only the opening act. Japan isn't simply fortifying one island near Taiwan. It is carrying out the largest, most comprehensive military buildup since World War II, a transformation so big that some inside Japan are now calling it a missile archipelago. And the scale of what's happening is definitely significant. Across the entire 160 island Ryuku chain, that's a long arc of islands that runs from Japan's main islands all the way down toward Taiwan. Japan is building new missile batteries, radar stations, ammunition depots, electronic warfare units, and hardened infrastructure designed specifically to counter China.

They're already under construction and in some places already operational. This buildup has roots going back several years. In 2022, after then-house Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China fired missiles that landed near Yonaguni. That incident jolted Japanese. Japanese planners and convinced Tokyo that the old assumptions about distance and safety no longer applied. But the recent remarks from Japan's new prime minister, Sinae Takichi, accelerated everything. When she said a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could trigger a, quote, survival-threatening situation, requiring Japanese intervention, Beijing erupted, and Japan then doubled down on its preparations. Now we're seeing what that looks like on the ground. Yonaguni itself, has

already changed dramatically. New housing blocks for troops, an electronic warfare division moving in, anti-air missile units on the way, and more islands are next. Step by step, Tokyo is turning its southern archipelago into a defensive wall designed to counter China. But the most striking development may actually be happening a bit farther north on an uninhabited island called Magasima. Magashima, located in the narrow Osumi Strait, is one of the few waterways the Chinese naval vessels used to break out into the wider Pacific. And Japan has purchased the entire island for $146 million. That seems like a bargain to build a massive new joint training base for U.S. and Japanese F-35 fighter jets. Satellite imagery reviewed this week shows the pace of construction, a 2,000-meter runway, ammunition depots, fuel farms, and a pier.

large enough to serve warships. 6,000 workers are now on the island. That's a thousand more than last year. It's rapidly becoming one of the most important air power hubs in the Western Pacific. For the U.S., which has been shifting toward more distributed operations in anticipation of a conflict with China, Magashima solves a major problem, where to conduct carrier-style take-off and landing training

without flying hundreds of miles from mainland Japan. And for Japan, the base symbolizes a huge strategic shift, integrating its own F-35s with U.S. operations and hardening its southwest flank. China knows exactly what this means. As we reported yesterday, state media and propaganda outlets for China have begun broadcasting lengthy reports, accusing Japan of abandoning its pacifist identity and, quote, reviving militarism. Beijing's diplomats are reaching back to World War II-era declaration. to challenge Japan's territorial rights. And Chinese military experts are warning that the new F-35 hub could serve not only as a training site, but as a forward operating base and a conflict. Inside Japan, the public debate echoes the anxiety. Some residents on the islands worry that their homeland could become a battleground. Others argue that China's pressure leaves Japan with no

alternative. And Japanese defense officials are being clear. These deployments are about deterrence, making the region too costly for China to dominate. Which brings us back to the bigger picture. Japan's military posture is changing, rapidly, visibly, and permanently. Yonaguni was the first sign, but Magashima and the broader fortification of the entire Ryoku chain show a country preparing for the possibility of a Taiwan crisis that spills into its own territory, and Tokyo is no longer shy about saying so. If a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, Japan could be pulled in almost immediately,

not by choice, but by geography and alliance commitments. And Beijing is reacting, well, like a government that understands the strategic map of East Asia, is shifting under its feet. All right, coming up next, South Korea scrambles jets after a joint Chinese-Russian fly-through of its air defense zone. And new reports say Israeli operatives monitored U.S. and allied officials at a joint base in Israel tied to Gaza planning. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, we've all seen those scary ads about owing money to the IRS.

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It's becoming a regular dance. Russia and China execute military exercises in the Korea Air Self-Defense Identification Zone, and you say, does that have an acronym? Well, of course it does. And it would be K-D-D-I-Z, the Korea Air Self-D-D-Edefense Identification Zone. Seoul sends its pilots into the air, and Moscow and Beijing's defense ministries insist that this situation is entirely under control. According to South Korea's joint chiefs of staff, seven Russian and two Chinese aircraft

entered and exited the zone yesterday morning, prompting South Korea to shadow them for about an hour until the drills concluded, quote, in any case of contingencies, end quote. An earlier report from South Korean media suggested as many as 11 aircraft had entered the zone, though South Korean officials later confirmed that figure was lower. It's important to note that the KDIS is not South Korea's territorial airspace. It's a broader early warning buffer zone that foreign aircraft can legally enter. However, when Russian and Chinese military aircraft repeatedly push into that zone, Seoul then questions whether they're simply exercising rights or testing the country's defense response.

Still within hours of the exercise's conclusion, China's defense ministry rolled out the familiar language about, quote, annual cooperation plans and the 10th Joint Strategic Air Patrol, as if stamping the moment with bureaucratic normalcy. But in a region where the security picture is getting more complex by the month, these reassurances are starting to land with less weight. Now, these joint air operations by China and Russia have grown more frequent since Russia's 2020 invasion of Ukraine as Moscow and Beijing increased both their diplomatic and defense ties. South Korea, the incursions are taking place against a backdrop of worsening regional security, and the North Korean regime now aligned more tightly than ever with both Beijing and Moscow.

South Korea scrambled fighter jets in 2024 for a similar incursion, with comparable incidents occurring twice in both 2023 and 2022. And so, the repetition is wearing thin on Seoul, where defense officials say they'll keep responding swiftly as long as Russian and Chinese aircraft and the tightening partnership with North Korea continue pushing up against edges of the defensive envelope. Okay, shifting focus to Israel, where what should have been a straightforward mission under President Trump's peace plan for Gaza may have been derailed by secret recordings.

Israeli operatives were found monitoring U.S. and allied personnel inside an American-run coordination center. From the moment the report reached the U.S. commander of the base, Lieutenant General Patrick Frank, it was clear that this wasn't a one-off misunderstanding. It was an established monitoring program designed to intercept internal comms of those working inside the base. According to sources familiar with the situation, Frank learned that Israeli personnel had been capturing audio inside the civil military coordination center. Does that have an acronym? Of course it does. It's the CMCC located in southern Israel. Frank's response was unusually blunt for a shared command environment,

telling Israeli commanders the recording, quote, has to stop here. Reportedly, over a period of time, since the CMCC has been up and running, American and Allied officers have been warning each other to watch what they say inside the building, a sign that personnel suspected that the center wasn't as private as assumed. Well, also, it's just good operational security or obsec to be guarded and discreet when operating in a foreign country's facility, even when the country is a close, ally. Once the monitoring effort was confirmed, sources say Jerusalem tried to wave off the concerns, saying everything was unclassified in the building and that the IDF was merely keeping, quote,

protocols. But, well, that missed the point. American and allied officers weren't worried about classification. They were worried about trust. The shift in mood did spread fast. British and Amaradi officers began comparing notes, warning colleagues that even routine updates might land in the wrong hands, in fear newly composed strategies could solely be shifted to benefit the Jewish state. I want to point out that this was all happening at a time when the CMCC has been struggling to prove it can deliver. The center was built to monitor the ceasefire, coordinate shipments, and outline Gaza's interim governance. But Israel's tight grip on the enclave meant that the U.S. and its allies were working inside boundaries that they didn't control. As one anonymous American official bluntly put it,

Washington may be, quote, the glove, but Israel, quote, remains the hand. Now, with confidence inside the CMCC shaken by Israeli surveillance on its allies, the center finds itself drifting, as Trump's peace plan hangs in the balance. Now, as a final thought here, to be fair, it should be assumed that allies spy on each other. It's the nature of the business. If anyone deployed to the CMCC, regardless of country of origin, was shocked to learn that the Israelis who are monitoring their comms, well, they should find a new line of work. All right. Coming up in the back of the brief, UAE back to separatists, tighten their grip in

southern Yemen, deepening the political crisis in the country. I'll have those details when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here, with a great holiday opportunity from our friends at Birch Gold Group. This holiday season, we're talking not just about gold, but silver. Right, silver and gold. That's what we're talking about here, because for every $5,000 you purchase between now and December 22nd, Birch gold will send you an ounce of silver. And if you're not aware, silver is up over 60% this year. Here's the thing. When you're talking about protecting your hard-earned assets, it's important to diversify and to have a hedge against uncertain times and instability. That's why I encourage you to consider buying gold from the Birch Gold Group. Let Birch Gold

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Text PDB to 989-898. Hey, Mike Baker here with a tip on how to feed your family right this holiday season. You know, it is the holiday season. Look, this time of year, everything gets busier. You know that schedules and travel and shipping and the grocery stores. So if you want to take one shopping burden off your plate, check in with the great folks over at Triedales beef. You've heard me talk about them before.

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and their latest advance is raising real questions about whether the country could be split in two. Now, to understand what's happening, it does help to know the players involved. Yemen hasn't been a simple, two-sided war for a long time. It's a conflict with overlapping factions, rival governments, foreign sponsors, and shifting alliances. At the top are the Houthis, the Iran-aligned movement, that controls most of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sana'a. Opposing them is the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which has long relied on support from Saudi Arabia. That government is nominally in charge of the South, but much of its political

authority has eroded after years of war, corruption, and military setbacks. Then there's the faction at the center of today's story, the Southern Transitional Council, or STC. They're backed by the UAE, and they've spent years, building their own security forces, political structures, and territorial control. Their long-term goal isn't to govern all of Yemen. It's to reestablish an independent state, a South Yemen similar to the one that existed before Yemen unified in 1990. Now, here's a tidbit that you can roll out at cocktail parties. Before Yemen unified in 1990, South Yemen was the only communist state in the Arab world.

Go ahead. You can use it at the next party. Impress your friends. You might want to mention the PDB. According to new reporting, the SDC has now taken full control of major areas in southern Yemen, including an oil-rich region that gives them both strategic and economic weight. Their fighters moved into new territory, seized government facilities, and raised the flag of the old South Yemen Republic over administrative buildings and border crossings. For a brief period, flights into and out of Aden, the government's temporary capital, were halted amid the chaos.

This marks a significant shift in the country's internal balance of power. The STC already administered much of the South, but with these new gains, they now effectively govern nearly the entire area that once made up South Yemen. And that's where this concern comes in. Yemen was already fractured, but this move by the STC brings the possibility of a formal split much closer. The Khutis still dominate the North. The Yemeni government is hanging on in name only, and now the South. and now the southern separatists control a contiguous stretch of territory with defined borders, their own security forces, and a growing political mandate.

If this trend continues, Yemen could be heading toward a de facto partition, one that might not end the war, but rather reshape it into something even more complicated. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Wednesday the 10th of December. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv. And if you'd like an ad-free PDB experience, well, we can make that happen. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by simply visiting PDB premium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed.

Stay safe. Stay cool.