The Defense Ministry said Tuesday a Ground Self-Defense Force training area in Yamaguchi Prefecture remains a candidate site for a U.S.-developed missile defense system, based on a new survey conducted after the initial one contained numerical errors.
A new report compiled by the ministry concluded the Mutsumi training area was the "only suitable place among state-owned lands (in the region) to meet requirements" for deploying the Aegis Ashore land-based system aimed at countering the threat of North Korean missiles.
In the original survey of the Mutsumi training area, which straddles Hagi and Abu in Yamaguchi Prefecture, the elevation of a hill near the site, which was calculated using Google Earth, did not match data provided by the governmental Geopolitical Information Authority of Japan.