Japan plans to bolster security and monitoring measures against North Korea. It also plans to work with the United States and other countries. This comes after the North fired a missile over Japan on October 4.
In a phone conversation, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and US President Joe Biden confirmed that they will strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of their bilateral alliance, NHK-World Japan reported on October 5.
After the conversation, Kishida told reporters that Japan will make strong appeals and work with relevant countries at the UN.
The North Korean ballistic missile passed over the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori on October 4. It was the first time that North Korea fired a missile over Japan since September 2017.
Officials say it flew a distance of about 4,600 kilometres. Defence officials say that is a record for a North Korean missile and they believe the projectile fell into the Pacific Ocean outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.
Japan is bracing for further provocative acts by North Korea. Concerns are also mounting that Pyongyang could conduct a nuclear test.
The Japanese government plans to drastically strengthen the country's defence capabilities to cope with the progress that the North has made in the development of nuclear and missile technology. The acquisition of counterstrike capabilities is being considered.