PM Abe stresses importance of space, cyberworld defense to Academy grads

March 18, 2018

Yokosuka, Kanagawa Pref.- Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told new graduates of the National Defense Academy on Sunday that the country will enhance its defense capabilities in space and on the Internet.

Delivering a speech during a graduation ceremony at the academy in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Abe said Japan needs to fully tackle challenges in new fields such as space and the cyberworld while maintaining the defense-only policy.

"Taking advantages in new fields is critically important," he stressed. "We cannot protect our nation any longer if we stick to the conventional land-sea-and-air defense posture."

The prime minister, supreme commander of the Self-Defense Forces, hailed the SDF's surveillance of North Korea's illicit maritime smuggling activities. Japan will keep putting maximum pressure on the reclusive country, he reiterated.

A total of 474 students, excluding foreign students, graduated from the academy in fiscal 2017 ending this month. Of them, 40 were women. The number of graduates who declined to join the SDF stood at 38, up six from the previous year. Jiji Press