The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has approved a record defense budget of $47.2 billion (5.4 trillion yen) for fiscal year 2022, earmarking more than a billion dollars to buttress missile defense capabilities, in particular against threats from North Korea.

The draft budget for the fiscal year starting in April is expected to pass the country’s bicameral legislature in the coming months. The government has framed the fiscal year 2022 defense budget, along with defense outlays in a supplemental budget for fiscal year 2021, as “defense strengthening acceleration” packages.