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Japan launched on Wednesday a U.S.- style National Security Council (NSC), under which cabinet ministers discussed China's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and other security challenges in the first meeting.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera attended the meeting at the prime minister's office.
According to sources close to the institution, they exchanged views on China's ADIZ issue, which has raised Japan's concern about incidents over some disputed islands in the East China Sea, Kyodo News reported.
Participants also touched on the reported dismissal of Jang Song Thaek, uncle of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong Un, from his posts, government officials said.
The Japanese NSC is designed to strengthen the leadership of the prime minister's office in steering foreign and defense policies, whose launch is seen as one of the main pillars of Abe's drive to rework the country's defense posture and strengthen the defense capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces.
At the NSC meeting on Wednesday, the ministers also confirmed that Japan's newly established council will strengthen cooperation with the NSCs in the United States and Britain.
Headed by Abe's foreign policy advisor Shotaro Yachi, the NSC's head office will consist of some 60 officials mainly from foreign and defense ministries. The office would gather information from ministries and agencies to avoid sectionalism.
