A panel of experts advising the prime minister started discussions Wednesday on the revision of the National Defense Program Guidelines, a policy document that outlines the nation's defense objectives for the next decade, with the aim of addressing the new realities that permeate the modern security landscape.
At the outset of the panel's inaugural session Wednesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emphasized the need to address those challenges.
"It's now critically important to maintain advantages in new areas such as cyberspace and outer space," Abe said at the meeting. "We will no longer be able to fully defend our country if we stick to the old paradigm of relying on traditional land, sea and air (forces)," he added.