A panel of experts will hold its first meeting Friday to start reviewing Japan's defense policy, ahead of the government's revision of defense guidelines by the end of the year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Thursday.
The government panel, chaired by Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., is expected to work with a Defense Ministry committee that is also discussing ways to review the National Defense Program Guidelines, with a view to compiling a report by summer.
The new guidelines, which will cover the period between fiscal 2010 and 2014, are expected to reflect recent developments in Japan's security environment, including the nuclear test by North Korea in 2006 and the rapid modernization of the Chinese military.