In 2007, tensions among the East Asian powers reached a boiling point after the establishment of the Information Self-Defense Force by Japan, which was viewed by the People's Republic of China and North Korea as an effort to remilitarize Japan in direct violation of the postwar constitution. In response, the United States came to Japan's defense as North Korea and China began to harass Japanese shipping lanes across the South China Sea, sending the USS Clarence E. Walsh to the region as a show of solidarity with Japan. During the crisis however, the American PMC Displace International engineered an attack on the USS Walsh with a North Korean anti-ship missile commandeered through the use of information warfare, and crippling the USS Walsh's defensive systems through the same means. The res