Japan and the US signed an agreement yesterday to expand their cooperation on a joint ballistic missile defense shield, moving to protect themselves amid signs North Korea could test a ballistic missile.
The pact, signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer, commits them to joint production of missiles to intercept incoming missiles, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The agreement had been previously negotiated and was not triggered by emerging fears that North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile, officials said. There has been speculation that the US could try to intercept the missile if it is fired.
But the timing of the agreement -- part of a program in the works for years -- symbolized the determined cooperation between the US and its top Asian ally to protect themselves against the threat posed by Pyongyang's missile program.
The announcement of the signing came only hours after Japanese officials said a high-resolution radar that can detect incoming missiles had been deployed at a base in northern Japan.
The so-called X-Band radar was transferred to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Shariki base in Tsugaru in northern Japan from the US military's Misawa Air Base in Misawa, the Defense Agency said. Tsugaru is 576km northeast of Tokyo.
The radar is expected to begin monitoring airspace this summer for ballistic missiles, the official said on condition of anonymity. The radar is solely to monitor missiles and not fitted with a missile interceptor, she said.
The deepening of the defense shield cooperation -- originally prompted by North Korea's last long-range missile test in 1998 -- has been in the works for months. Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe announced the expansion in December last year.
The new pact allows the transfer of ballistic missile defense technology from Japan to the US -- a touchy issue in Japan, which has long adhered to a self-imposed ban on arms exports in line with the spirit of its pacifist constitution.
The new agreement updates a November 1983 pact on arms transfers and a December 2004 missile cooperation arrangement.
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