Outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will set the policy direction on whether to acquire strike capability against missile bases in other countries, government sources said Monday.
Abe, who abruptly announced his resignation Friday, will also hammer out an alternative plan for the costly land-based, U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore system, according to the sources. The planned deployment of the system, aimed at protecting the country from the North Korean missile threat, was scrapped by the government in June.
Abe has informed executives of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party of his decision and is likely to map out a new security policy during a National Security Council meeting, possibly in the first half of September, before the next head of the LDP is selected, the sources said.