South Korea's Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae says there are signs that North Korea may conduct a 4th nuclear test. (NHK)

It's easy to write off North Korean threats to strike the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile as bluster: it has never demonstrated the capability to deploy a missile that could reach the Pacific island of Guam let alone the mainland U.S. But what about Japan? (foxnews.com)

Japanese industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Monday ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co. to take steps to prevent radioactive water from leaking from the accident-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. (Jiji Press)

Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda briefly met President Xi Jinping yesterday in his capacity as chairman of an international conference, but said there was no discussion of bilateral tensions. (South China Morning Post)

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Sunday ordered the Self-Defense Forces to prepare for the shooting down of North Korean ballistic missiles in the event that any are launched, government sources said. (Kyodo)

Japan and the United States are considering deploying the Global Hawk unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft at a U.S. military base in Japan to enhance surveillance over North Korea, bilateral sources said Saturday. (Kyodo)

North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Friday requested the Russian and other embassies in Pyongyang to consider the possibility of evacuation amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the Interfax news agency and other media reported. (Kyodo)

The U.S. and Japan unveiled plans Friday for gradually returning some land on Okinawa now used by the American military, but still intend to relocate a U.S. Marine base elsewhere on the island, an idea fervently opposed by Okinawans. (Los Angeles Times)

North Korea has moved a medium-range missile, which could hit targets in South Korea and Japan, to its east coast, a report says. (presstv.ir)

Mr Cameron made his first official visit to Japan last year to promote trade and investment. But after dark his time was taken up with knocking back cups of sake with his Japanese counterpart, former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda. (telegraph.co.uk)

North Korea has moved an object that appears to be a mid-range missile to its east coast, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday, citing multiple South Korean government sources. (Kyodo)

The U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday it will deploy a land-based missile defense system to Guam for the first time in coming weeks "as a precautionary move" to counter the threat of North Korean ballistic missiles amid increasingly hostile posturing by Pyongyang. (Kyodo)

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force has deployed a newly-built submarine at its base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. (NHK)

Former Japanese postdisaster reconstruction minister Tatsuo Hirano tendered his resignation from the Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday, aiming to run in this summer's House of Councillors election as an independent. (Jiji Press)

North Korea says it will refurbish and restart its disabled nuclear reactor at Nyongbyon, apparently to suggest that it plans to extract toxic plutonium from its spent nuclear fuel. (NHK)

Despite a lack of experience in foreign policy, or any other kind of politics, Caroline Kennedy looks set to receive a warm reception in Japan if her appointment as the next US ambassador to the country is confirmed. (csmonitor.com)

The United Nations has adopted its first ever treaty aimed at controlling the trade in conventional weapons, voting it through by a large majority despite earlier being blocked by three countries. (guardian.co.uk)

The United States moved an Aegis warship Monday to waters near the Korean Peninsula in response to the increasingly threatening rhetoric exhibited by North Korea. (Kyodo)

Japan and Russia are arranging for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit Russia on April 29 and 30, a source familiar with bilateral relations said Monday. (Kyodo)

Barack Obama is close to naming Caroline Kennedy to the high profile post of ambassador to Japan: reports in US media. (SBS)