Japan bolsters surveillance as South, U.S. begin naval exercise
Japan stepped up surveillance on North Korea on Sunday as South Korea and the United States kicked off a joint naval exercise in the Yellow Sea just days after a small South Korean border island was shelled by Pyongyang.
The Self-Defense Forces are conducting warning and surveillance activities in the surrounding area, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan has put his Cabinet on standby to respond rapidly to any potential developments in North Korea.
Kan held a meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku and other government officials on Sunday afternoon in which they probably discussed North Korea's response to the start of the four-day military drill.
Earlier in the day, Kan was updated on the situation by Yoshito Sengoku, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara.
"I instructed them to address the situation in a firm manner without lowering our guard," Kan told reporters.
On a Sunday morning TV program, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama said that "all possible measures" are being taken to deal with unexpected developments.
He also suggested that Japan will consider "additional measures," depending on the developments.
"The possibility of a resumption of the six-party (denuclearization) talks is getting slim, and our sanctions on North Korea have not made any progress," Fukuyama said. "We must consider if we need to introduce another approach."
The Cabinet has been ordered to stay in Tokyo until Wednesday, when the four-day South Korea-U.S. joint military drill ends, and to report to their ministries within the hour if an emergency situation develops.
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