Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the meeting of the Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of a Legal Basis for Security at the Prime Minister's Office.

In his address, the Prime Minister said,

"I consulted this Advisory Panel six years ago on the constitutional ideas related to the 'four categories' of security issues including the protection of the U.S. ship and asked for discussion. However, I departed from the position of Prime Minister about a year thereafter, and I had been regretting that I was not able to directly receive the conclusion derived from your wisdom. Today, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you, being able to have an occasion for receiving the report once again.
Although several years have passed since that time, the security environment surrounding Japan has changed greatly. The movement of nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran is unceasing, and especially, a power shift of global dimensions is becoming prominent, which is also changing the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea near Japan. Against such background, the responsibilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance are becoming increasingly important, and more and more attention is turned to how Japan can cooperate in the creation of peace in the international society.
Based on such changes in the situation, I would like to inaugurate the Advisory Panel to once again discuss under Mr. Shunji Yanai, the chairman, what Japan should do to maintain the peace and safety of the country, including the most effective operation of the Japan-U.S. Security Arrangements, by taking into consideration the changes in the security environment surrounding Japan in the past four and a half years and those that can be expected to occur in the future."