The Cabinet earlier this week approved a bill that would provide a legal framework for a missile defense (MD) system. During the current regular session of the Diet, the government is seeking approval of the proposed amendment to the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) Law plus a bill for creating an integrated MD unit.
In December 2003, the government decided to introduce the antimissile system to deal effectively with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. Deployment of the system -- a salient feature of the new Defense Program Outline -- is planned for fiscal 2006.
A missile fired by North Korea would reach Japan in just 10 minutes. Since there would be too little time for the Japanese Security Council or the Cabinet to meet and decide what to do, it is necessary, the argument goes, to have an effective missile-interception system in place and to establish ad hoc operating procedures for such an emergency.