Japan is reportedly thinking about stepping up its defense spending to respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports Tokyo is reviewing a plan to increase defense spending for the five-year period beginning in 2019 beyond the usual average of zero-point-eight percent a year.

Separately, Japan’s Defense Ministry confirmed a plan Friday to quickly introduce a land-based Aegis missile defense system, called the Aegis Ashore, to respond to North Korean missile threats.

The program costs more than 80 billion yen per unit, or about 730 million U.S. dollars. Two units of the system are capable of covering all of Japan.

The Japanese ministry was also known to be planning to deploy a ground-based radar to look out for the enemy’s weapons targeting its satellites given the growing importance of satellites in monitoring the North. 

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