NKorea still 'serious and imminent threat': Japan

North Korea still poses a "serious and imminent threat", Japan said today in its first annual defence review since an outbreak of diplomacy on the Korean peninsula.

Japan's 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China's rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking "strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan".

Last year's defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North Korea, amid nuclear and missile tests and US President Donald Trump threatening to rain down "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it kept up its threats.

But since then, a spectacular diplomatic detente has taken place, culminating in the historic summit between Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

Nevertheless, Tokyo insisted today: "There is no change in our basic recognition concerning the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles."