Japan must urgently strengthen its military, the defense minister said Tuesday, citing rising threats from China, North Korea and Russia.
His comment comes after a new government assessment once again highlighted the need to boost the country's military amid growing risks.
Japan is already beefing up military spending and security cooperation in Asia, deploying missile launchers to outer islands, moving to acquire "counterstrike" capabilities and easing rules on weapons exports.
But Shinjiro Koizumi said in a preface to the annual defense white paper that it was "imperative that Japan further reinforce and transform its defense capabilities with a stronger sense of urgency and crisis than ever before."
In the Asia-Pacific, "not only are China and North Korea further strengthening their military capabilities, China-Russia and Russia-North Korea are also reinforcing their cooperation," he added.
