Japan is stepping up surveillance against a possible provocation by North Korea around the time of Kim Il-sung's birthday anniversary this Saturday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a Ground Self-Defense Force unit on Friday where he told servicemen that Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development is growing more serious.

He visited the unit while on his way to the site of a series of earthquakes in Kumamoto last year to mark the disaster's one year anniversary. 

A Seoul-based news agency said Abe appears to be making the most of tensions stirred by the U.S. and North Korea as a way to rally up his core right-wing supporters.

According to Kyodo news, Abe also said the military aircraft of China and other foreign countries have been showing up more frequently in the skies southwest of Japan as threats of terrorism escalate around the world.

[Photo : ]