The Public Security Investigation Agency will bolster surveillance of the Islamic community in Japan following threats of terror attacks in connection with the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, it said in an annual report released Tuesday.
The report says the agency will strengthen its monitoring of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) while keeping an eye on developments in six-nation talks over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The multilateral negotiations involve China, Japan, North and South Koreas, Russia and the United States.
The agency, which operates under the Justice Ministry, expressed concern in the report that North Korea may procure materials for weapons of mass destruction by transporting them on vessels from third countries.
On the Aum Shinrikyo cult, the agency remains cautious about possible illegal acts by its believers prior to the verdict in February in the trial of founder Shoko Asahara.
Prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto.