Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Monday that the completion of the Defense Agency's new headquarters presented a good opportunity for him as chief commander of the Self-Defense Forces to talk about the nation's defense policies.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the agency's new facilities in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, Mori expressed his goal to build a country that can be trusted by the international community, where people can live peacefully and have dreams.

To that end, he said, "It is also most important that we contribute to the establishment of international security while reinforcing the foundation of our national security."

At the start of the ceremony, participants observed a minute of silent prayer for former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who died Sunday.

Obuchi was portrayed by an agency official as a prime minister who gave his all "to establish the foundation for protecting life and the security of the nation" through such policies as the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines.

Obuchi was also remembered as the leader who ordered the Maritime Self-Defense Force to fire warning shots at two apparent North Korean spy ships that approached Japan's coast last year.

The ceremony was attended by senior officials of the agency, and the SDF as well as former chiefs of the agency, including former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, Diet members, foreign embassy officials and U.S. military officials.

The new headquarters was constructed at the Ground Self-Defense Force's former Ichigaya camp at a cost of 247 billion yen.

About 7,000 agency officials moved here from the former headquarters in Tokyo's Roppongi district during the Golden Week holidays earlier this month.