Japan to speed up joint missile shield with U.S
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-06 16:56 Japan's defense chief said
Thursday that Tokyo wants to speed up efforts to establish a missile defense
shield with the United States to guard against the threat posed by North Korea.
"In addition to building monitoring radar networks, we would like to
cooperate with the United States and put our joint missile interception into
shape as quickly as possible," Defense Chief Fukushiro Nukaga told a
parliamentary committee in the wake of North Korea's missile tests on Wednesday.
The United States and Japan have been working to jointly develop a missile
defense system and last month agreed to expand their cooperation on a joint
ballistic missile defense shield, committing themselves to joint production of
interceptor missiles.
The two governments also agreed to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor
missiles on American bases in Japan for the first time.
Japan plans to deploy its own PAC-3 missiles by March 2007 and SM-3 missiles
by March 2008, according to the Defense Agency.
Nukaga's comments Thursday came as he explained to the lower house national
security committee the measures Tokyo was taking against Pyongyang in response
to its missile tests.
On Wednesday, Tokyo barred North Korean officials from entering Japan,
suspended all chartered flights between the two countries, and banned a North
Korean trade ship from docking in Japan for six months.
Japan also sought condemnation of the missile launches in an emergency U.N.
Security Council meeting.
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