Defense Minister Taro Kono on Monday visited a test complex of a U.S.-developed land-based missile defense system in Hawaii amid a stalemate over its introduction to Japan, with candidate sites angered by errors in government surveys used to select the locations.
Vice Adm. John Hill, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, explained the capability and safety of the radar used by the Aegis Ashore missile defense system to Kono at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
"By utilizing the Aegis Ashore system, we'll secure Japan against North Korean missiles," Kono told reporters after observing the test site. "We want to deploy (the missile defense units) as soon as possible."