North Korea poses a more severe threat to Japan than ever before, Tokyo’s new defense white paper states, necessitating “counterstrike capabilities” in case the DPRK carries out ballistic missile attacks.

The Japanese defense ministry published the assessment Friday in its annual “Defense of Japan,” a lodestar document meant to guide national security policies.

North Korea’s ballistic and other missiles “pose an even more grave and imminent threat to Japan’s national security than ever before, and significantly undermine the peace, stability and security of the region and the international community,” the white paper assessed.

In the document, the defense ministry states