The government is expected to submit a bill to the Diet this legislative session on upgrading the Defense Agency to ministry status, political sources said Saturday.
The Cabinet plans to move on the bill after receiving the OK from the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito in early June, when the junior coalition partner is expected to finalize its approval despite opposition from some of its ranks, the sources said.
But because time the Diet session is coming up fast on its June 18 end, the governing coalition is likely to seek holding the bill over for an extraordinary session that will likely be held this fall, the sources said.