The Japanese government has approved the introduction of two Aegis Ashore missile defense systems to better defend against North Korean missiles.

The Aegis Ashore is a land-based ballistic missile defense system involving the deployment of interceptor missiles and advanced radar from Aegis destroyers of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Japan plans to deploy and operate the Aegis Ashore from 2023. 

Candidate sites for deployment include a training ground in Akita City in the country's northeast and another site in Hagi City in Japan's southwest.

One Aegis Ashore unit is known to cost close to 100 billion yen which is about 966 billion won.

Japan's current missile defense system consists of two stages. The first uses sea-based interceptor missiles loaded on an Aegis destroyer to strike down an enemy missile from outside the Earth's atmosphere at a maximum altitude of 500 kilometers. If this fails, the ground-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3(PAC-3) missile will shoot down the missile from ten kilometers above ground or higher. 

The ballistic missile that North Korea fired over Japan in mid-September had a maximum altitude of 770 kilometers, impossible for Japan to even attempt an interception. 

[Photo : ]