North Korea's ability to produce missiles that can reach any part of Japan is a cause for extreme concern and an issue that directly affects Japan's security, the Defense Agency said in its 1999 white paper released Tuesday.
The agency's annual report urges that Japan beef up its intelligence-gathering capability and countermeasures while promoting coordination with the United States, South Korea and other countries concerned about the matter.
In a special chapter added to this year's report, the agency re-examined North Korea's launch of a Taepodong-type ballistic missile last August as well as the Self-Defense Forces' chase of two North Korean spy ships that entered Japanese waters in March.