Japan national defense policy

In the "National Defense White Paper for the year 2000" announced on the 28th by the Japanese National Defense Agency, Japan has made its position known that while the inter-Korean dialogues could lead to the alleviation of aggression in the peninsula, whether it could also lead to the permanent shelving of North`s nuclear weapon and missile development programs is not yet certain.

The white paper stressed that although North Korea has entered into a new phase in its expansion of diplomacy, it still continues to operate hidden behind the closed system of government.

The white paper also cautioned against China and pointed out that China retain 70 ballistic missiles which have a range in the Asian region including Japan. Such capability of China`s missiles to reach Japan has been acknowledged for the first time publicly.

In connection to the "contingency legislation" in case of a military invasion, the white paper called it a necessary measure to protect the lives and the properties of the citizens. The current resolution reflects an increase in the urgency for the need of such contingency legislation as compared to last year`s statement calling for a "recommendation" of such legislation.