Japan 'must boost missile shield'
102424
Tokyo needs to bolster its missile defence to counter the threat from North Korea, Japan's defence ministry says.
21495
Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the North&#039;s missile bases would violate its constitution, suggesting it could take stronger action against the reclusive regime if the U.N. Security Council rejects its resolution calling for sanctions.
241741
Japan's PM Yasuo Fukuda calls for greater discipline from defence officials following a series of scandals.
547268
Japan will seek an explanation at weekend  talks with North Korea on activity indicating Pyongyang may be  preparing a missile test, although Tokyo does not think a  launch is imminent, Japan's top government spokesman said.
256703
Japan plans to raise the missile issue during talks with North Korea in Beijing, China this weekend. While the main agenda of the contact surrounds Pyongyang&#39;s abductions of Japanese citizens back in the 1970s
511542
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso warned  North Korea on Sunday if it launched a missile that dropped on  Japan, Tokyo would regard it as an attack on Japan.
149253
Japan will proceed with planned talks with North Korea tomorrow on normalizing ties, after a report the communist nation may be preparing to launch a ballistic missile, Hiroyuki Hosoda, Japan&#39;s chief government spokesman, said.
378357
The United States needs a shield against what it sees as a growing missile threat from Iran, despite a recent report showing it had halted its nuclear weapons program, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
535816
Japan and the US yesterday agreed to boost cooperation in their missile defense programs -- an important first step in carrying out new defense guidelines that ease Tokyo&#39;s strict postwar pacifism.
159634
Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said China needs to contribute more to help end North Korea&#39;s nuclear-weapons program.
318195
Shinzo Abe, the front-runner to become Japan's new prime minister, called Friday for his country to build a stronger military as a deterrent and to push ahead with economic reforms as candidates launched their campaigns to lead the governing party.
103465
TOKYO In a once-a-decade defense review, Japan adopted plans on Friday to shift its military focus away from the northern cold war threat of invasion from Russia to guarding against missiles from North Korea or Chinese incursions on Japan&#39;s southernmost
729656
Japan&#39;s defense panel Monday called for greater security measures, strengthening the US/Japan security alliance and changing the Self-Defense Forces.
491517
The Japanese media reported Friday that the Japanese government believes the North Korean military buildup at missile bases is part of a military drill and that the Japanese plan to ask the North to explain its actions.
696264
Japan and the United States on Friday agreed to boost co-operation in their missile defence programs - an important first step in carrying out new defence guidelines that ease Tokyo&#39;s strict postwar pacifism.
335884
TOKYO Japan will ask North Korea in talks on Saturday if it is preparing to fire a ballistic missile, Japan&#39;s top government spokesman said.
127802
Japan uses a ship-based defence system to shoot down a ballistic missile, the first such test by a US ally.