The prospect of boosting Japan's military capabilities is worth discussing, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Sunday.
Referring to a proposal put forth by the Defense Agency chief, Abe said on a Fuji TV interview show: "It would be natural for us to debate the scope of defense Japan should have based on our defense-oriented policy, given advancing weapons technology, tactics and strategy."
He added, however, that such discussions would not result in a change to Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy.