Abe: Japan planning for refugees in event of NKorean crisis

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during an Audit and Oversight of Administration Committee session at the lower house of Parliament in Tokyo Monday, April 17, 2017. Abe said Monday that Japan's government is drawing up contingency plans in case a crisis on the Korean Peninsula sends an influx of refugees to Japan. Abe told a parliamentary session that the government is formulating measures including protecting foreigners, landing procedures, building and operating shelters, and screening asylum seekers. (Yoshinobu Shimizu/Kyodo News via AP) (The Associated Press)

TOKYO – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan's government is drawing up contingency plans in case a crisis on the Korean Peninsula sends an influx of refugees to Japan.

Abe told a parliamentary session Monday that the government is formulating measures including protecting foreigners, landing procedures, building and operating shelters, and screening asylum seekers.

Abe's disclosure came in response to a question that had been occasionally asked in the past but is now more realistic than ever with North Korea's missile capability rapidly advancing and tension with the U.S. rising.

Abe said the government has been also working on evacuation plans for Japanese from South Korea in case of a crisis.