Japan Fears Missile Data Leak to North Korea

AFP: Japan�s defense chief said Jan. 24 the nation must be more careful about security after information on a missile system under development was leaked to a company with possible links to communist North Korea.

Japan has only a low awareness on protecting information regarding national security,� Defense Agency Director-General Fukushiro Nukaga told reporters after the leak in the 1990s came to light.

The agency said data on developing a new surface-to-air missile system had been �leaked to a software company believed to be linked� to a science group under the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan in the 1990s.

The residents� association, commonly called Chongryon, has been working as North Korea�s de facto representative office in Japan because the two countries have no diplomatic ties.

�The Defense Agency extremely regrets the information leakage. We will investigate the matter urgently and take appropriate measures promptly,� an agency spokesman said.

�We will know whether the leakage has any impact (on Japan�s security) as the investigation proceeds.�

The data leaked between 1993 and 1995 concerned the development of a future version of a missile system which Japan�s ground forces started deploying in 2003, he said.

The software company obtained the data through Japan�s Mitsubishi Electric, which was assigned by the government agency to help improve the mid-range surface-to-air missile system.

The software firm was a subcontractor of Mitsubishi and is believed to have ties to a Chongryon group that promotes interaction between Korean scientists in Japan and their counterparts overseas, the spokesman said.

The case came to light after the Defense Agency got a tip-off from police, he added.

North Korea stunned the world by launching a missile over Japan in 1998, prompting Tokyo to send up a spy satellite and take other security measures.

Japan teamed up with the United States to develop a missile shield after the 1998 launch.