As Japan seeks to beef up its defenses in response to North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear and missile program, its long-held policy of sticking to a strictly self-defensive security posture will likely come under close scrutiny in 2018.
In particular, a plan to acquire long-range cruise missiles capable of striking North Korea could set off heated debate in the Diet next year, with critics viewing it as the latest move by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to loosen postwar security constraints imposed under the pacifist Constitution.
The plan was announced earlier this month as part of the ¥5.19 trillion ($45.8 billion) draft defense budget for the next fiscal year. The government has earmarked ¥2.19 billion to introduce air-launched cruise missiles with a range of up to 900 km.