TOKYO: Japanese Defense Minister KONO Taro and Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, Commander of US Forces Japan, agreed Saturday that both sides will continue to cooperate to build a new missile defense system for Japan.

The accord came after the Japanese government earlier this year scrapped a plan to introduce the Aegis Ashore land-based missile intercept system.

“North Korean missiles remain an undeniable threat,” Kono told reporters after the meeting with Schneider at US Yokota Air Base in a Tokyo suburb. “We’ll fully consider (an alternative missile defense system), including at the National Security Council,” he said.

During the meeting, Kono and Schneider also confirmed cooperation between Japanese and US defense authorities in responding to the coronavirus epidemic.

They are also believed to have had talks on Chinese activities in the East China Sea, including waters around the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands.

Prior to the meeting, Kono visited the headquarters of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Air Defense Command, located within the Yokota base. He called on its staff to conduct their duties with a sense of responsibility, given North Korea’s improved missile technology and the increased frequency of Chinese warplanes approaching Japanese airspace.

JIJI Press