The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday approved the revision bills to the current Self-Defense Forces Law, which will give the head of defense enlarged authority in intercepting missile attacks.

The bills will enable the Defense Agency director general to order missile interception with the consent of the prime minister, while dispensing with the sanction from the cabinet and Japan's Security Council, according to Kyodo News.

In addition, if the missiles are flying toward Japan, the Defense Agency director general can give interception order on his own without the premier's consent.

The bills also seek to reorganize the SDF under a unified command by setting up a Joint Staff to oversee all three branches of the SDF.

The head of the Joint Staff will receive orders directly from the Defense Agency director general to operate all three branches and will be the top SDF officer.

"We must shoot down any (weapons) targeting Japan within 10 minutes because they will be extreme threats to the people and property in Japan," Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono said at a press conference.

Claiming the "risk of missile strike" from "the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Japan is teamed with the United States to deploy a dual-level ballistic missile defense system consisting of sea- and land-based interception missile systems.

The bills will be submitted to the current parliament for approval.

The government is also working with the New Komeito party, the LDP's ruling coalition partner, on a bill to formalize the SDF's participation in international missions as one of its primary duties, Kyodo said.

The defense capacity buildup have raised concerns that Japan, one of the nations that launched the World War II, may slide toward the militarism again despite its post-War pacifist constitution.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2005)