U.S. alliance of 'unprecedented' importance, says Japan's new defense chief

Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi speaks to reporters in Tokyo last week. | POOL / VIA KYODO

TOKYO, Sept 28 (The Japan Times/ANN) - Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi has said that the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance “has reached an unprecedented level” due to “an increasingly harsh national security environment.”

In an interview, Kishi, who took office on Sept. 16 under the administration of new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, said that he wants to “further boost the alliance’s deterrence and response capabilities,” and that he will work with the United States on introducing in Japan a missile defense system in place of the scrapped plan to deploy Aegis Ashore land-based interceptors.