AFP, Tokyo :
Japan’s Olympics Minister Toshiaki Endo on Monday promised to make public safety the “top priority” of the 2020 Tokyo Games following the deadly Paris terror attacks.
“Once again it shows how difficult security is,” Endo told local reporters, referring to the coordinated attacks in the French capital on Friday that killed at least 129 people. “Until now Japan has been viewed as a country with relatively few security fears.
“However, these kinds of terrorist threats are spreading to countries throughout the world,” Endo said.
He added: “Cyber security and anti-terror measures will become the top priority in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, meanwhile, reiterated the determination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to tighten security ahead of the Olympics, the 2019 Rugby World Cup and next year’s G7 summit in the western city of Shima.
“Following the recent incidents, the prime minister has directed with all the more urgency the need for anti-terror measures,” he told a press briefing.
“The government is gathering information about relevant terror threats and taking all the necessary steps to increase protection of the country’s borders.”
