U.S. to Add Missile Defenses in Japan for N. Korean Threat

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today said the U.S. will expand its missile defenses in Japan to counter the North Korean threat while calling on China to act responsibly to resolve disputes over contested islands.

The U.S. will assign two more Aegis-class destroyers to Japan by 2017, expanding its regional deployment of the missile-defense warships to seven, Hagel said at a news conference in Tokyo today after meeting with Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera.