Japan has agreed to shoulder about one billion dollars or about one-third of the cost of developing a joint missile system with the United States. The two countries have been jointly conducting research since 1999 into a new missile defense system against a possible attack by

North Korea and plan to start the development stage sometime from March, Kyodo News reported. It said Japan’s Defense Agency had advised that Tokyo would pay about one-third of the estimated three-billion-dollar cost, the news agency said without giving its sources. Full Story