The Defense Ministry has deployed Patriot PAC-3 antimissile air defense units to three Self-Defense Forces installations, in Tokyo and Chiba, to defend against possible North Korean missile strikes, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday.

The PAC-3 units were deployed to the Defense Ministry's headquarters in Ichigaya in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, as well as the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Asaka in Tokyo's Nerima Ward and Camp Narashino in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Suga told a news conference.

Those units have been deployed apparently to defend the ministry's headquarters and key SDF units as well as the heart of the capital, given the limited range of the PAC-3 interceptors, which is about 30 km.