The United States is reportedly examining South Korea’s views on Washington’s hopes to include South Korea in the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system.

Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily said Saturday that the U.S. sounded out South Korea on the issue during bilateral meetings among their foreign and defense ministry officials in Washington in December.

The paper added that the U.S. is seeking to include South Korea in the missile defense system as part of efforts to counter a possible North Korean missile attack.

According to the report, the U.S. is continuously trying to persuade a cautious South Korea while voices within the South are rising for the Lee Myung-bak government to tentatively take part in the missile defense system for purposes of joint research.

The daily said that if South Korea, the U.S. and Japan come to jointly operate the missile defense system, South Korea and Japan are likely to establish new bilateral defense systems.