Larry Downing / AFP - Getty Images

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, center, disembarks from his aircraft after arriving at US Yokota air base in Japan on Sunday.

TOKYO -- U.S. and Japanese officials have agreed to put a second defense system in Japan aimed at protecting the country from the threat of a missile attack from North Korea, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday.

The exact location of the radar installation has not yet been determined. It will be in the south of the country, U.S. officials said, but not in Okinawa.

Officials stressed that the system would be aimed at protecting the region against the threat from North Korea and is not directed at China.

The U.S. already has similar early warning radar systems on ships in the Asia-Pacific.

This second Japan-based system will allow the U.S. vessels to spread out and cover other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China seas

Panetta said the new installation would also be effective in protecting the U.S. homeland from a North Korea threat. He spoke during a press conference in Tokyo with the Japanese defense minister, Satoshi Morimoto.

Morimoto said it would not be appropriate at this time to specify a location for the new radar, and said a date for its deployment has not yet been set.

While officials insisted the radar system would not be aimed at China, the decision was sure to raise the ire of Beijing.

More China coverage on our Behind the Wall blog

The radar will "enhance our ability to defend Japan," Panetta said, adding that he would talk to Chinese leaders about the system to assure them that this about protecting the U.S. and the region from North Korea's missile threat.

"We have made these concerns clear to the Chinese," he said. "For that reason ... we believe it is very important to move ahead" with the radar system.

More North Korea coverage from NBCNews.com

North Korea has long been trying to build a nuclear arsenal, has also been working on a ballistic missile which would be able to reach the U.S. mainland. However, its long-range rocket tests have to date all failed.

Slideshow: Journey into North Korea

David Guttenfelder / AP

In this March 9, 2011 photo, a girl plays the piano inside the Changgwang Elementary School in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Launch slideshow

Japan has worked closely with the U.S. for several years on missile defense, and has both land- and sea-based missile launchers.

North Korea's ballistic missiles are considered a threat to security in the Asia-Pacific region because of the risk of conflict erupting on the divided and heavily militarized Korean peninsula, and because of the secretive North's nuclear weapons program.

The long-range rockets it is developing have been test-fired over Japan and could potentially reach the U.S.

The North conducted its latest long-range rocket launch in April, defying a U.N. ban. Pyongyang said the launch was intended to send an observation satellite into space but it drew international condemnation as the rocket technology is similar to that used for ballistic missiles.

Slideshow: Daily life in North Korea

Elizabeth Dalziel / AP

From work to play, see pictures from inside the secretive country.

Launch slideshow

The launch was a failure and the rocket disintegrated shortly after takeoff.

Panetta is on his third trip to Asia in 11 months, reflecting the Pentagon's ongoing shift to put more military focus on the Asia-Pacific.

Territorial disputes
The defense chief is urging countries involved in territorial disputes in the region to find a way to peacefully resolve those problems before they spark provocations and violence.

Panetta's visit to Japan also included discussions with Morimoto about the deployment of V-22 Ospreys to the southwestern island of Okinawa. Tens of thousands of people have protested the hybrid aircraft's planned use, saying they are unsafe.

Slideshow: The life of Kim Jong ll

Kcna / AFP - Getty Images

A pictorial look at the North Korean leader through the years

Launch slideshow

The U.S. had hoped to have the aircraft in place as early as next month, but Morimoto said no specific date has been set on that matter, either.

The Pentagon plans to deploy 12 of the aircraft, which take off and land like a helicopter, but fly like a plane. U.S. officials have assured Japanese leaders the Ospreys are safe.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Anatoly Maltsev / EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a cup of coffee in a restaurant during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Week event in Vladivostok, Russia, Thursday.

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired Thursday that Russia can work with Mitt Romney if he's elected U.S. president, even though Romney has called Russia the United States' "No. 1 geopolitical foe."

However, Putin also suggested that a Romney presidency would widen the rift over an anti-missile shield the United States is deploying in Europe. 

The Russian leader held out hope for an end to the missile defense dispute if Barack Obama is re-elected in November, telling Russia's RT television he was "an honest person who really wants to change much for the better."

Romney has promised "less flexibility and more backbone" in policy on Russia if he wins the Nov. 6 election. 

"As for Mr. Romney's position, we understand that it is in part...campaign rhetoric, but I think it is, of course, without a doubt mistaken," Putin said. 

"Because to conduct oneself like that in the international arena is the same as using the instruments of nationalism and segregation in the domestic politics of your own country," he added.

Powell to Romney on foreign policy: 'Come on, Mitt, think'

"We'll work with whichever president is elected by the American people. But our effort will be only as efficient as our partners will want it to be," Putin said.

Relations between Moscow and Washington improved after Obama moved to "reset" ties, but have been strained by disputes over issues ranging from global security to human rights. 

Putin said Russia would continue to talk with Washington but "protect itself and preserve the strategic balance" if the United States pushed ahead with the anti-missile shield, which Moscow sees as a threat. 

Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama agree to continue discussions on Iran, Syria

In some of his most extensive public comments since he started a six-year term in May, Putin also dismissed Western criticism on issues ranging from Syria to the conviction of three anti-government protesters from the punk band Pussy Riot. 

Putin was asked whether Moscow should rethink its stance on Syria after vetoing three Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolutions designed to pressure Assad to end violence that has killed 20,000 people. 

"Why should only Russia re-evaluate its position?" he said. "Maybe our partners in the negotiation process should re-evaluate their position." 

'Dangerous and short-sighted'
Without naming any country, he hinted the United States was looking to militants to help topple Assad and would regret it, drawing a parallel with U.S. support for the mujahideen who fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan during the Cold War. 

"Today somebody is using al-Qaida fighters or people from other organizations with the same extreme views to achieve their goals in Syria," Putin said. "This is a very dangerous and short-sighted policy." 

Russia's Putin takes to sky to lead flight of cranes

He noted that the United States had imprisoned many alleged Islamic militants at Guantanamo Bay and said it might as well "open the gates to Guantanamo and let all the Guantanamo inmates into Syria, let them fight. It's the same thing." 

Putin has signed laws in his new term that critics say are part of a campaign to suppress dissent after the biggest protests of his 12 years in power.  Putin said he acted to instill order and that he had taken steps to improve democracy. 

"What is 'tightening the screws'?" he said. "If this means the demand that everyone, including representatives of the opposition, obey the law, then yes, this demand will be consistently implemented." 

Pussy Riot's name 'indecent'
Putin declined to comment on the sentences handed down to three women from punk band Pussy Riot jailed for two years for performing a raucous anti-Putin song inside a Moscow cathedral. 

"I know what is going on with Pussy Riot, but I am staying out of it completely", he told the channel. 

Russia prosecutors seek 3 years for punk rockers

But he suggested the band's notoriety had forced its "indecent" name into public discourse, reinforcing the point by prodding his interviewer to translate the word "pussy." 

"I want to direct your attention to the moral side of the issue," he added, describing a previous group-sex stunt that included at least one of the convicted women and adding a off-color joke of his own about group sex. 

Putin said abuses committed against the Russian Orthodox Church and other faiths during the Soviet era made the Pussy Riot protest particularly offensive and meant "the state is obliged to protect the feelings of believers." 

KGB-style threat? Putin foe charged with theft

Kremlin opponents and defense lawyers accused Putin of influencing last month's trial and sentence, which the United States and European nations branded disproportionate. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Russia’s chief of defense staff reportedly warned Thursday that his country was prepared to use "destructive force preemptively" to stop the United States from creating a missile-defense system in Europe.

General Nikolai Makarov made the remark as another Russian official said international talks about the plan were near stalemate, although NATO remained optimistic a deal would be reached, BBC News reported.

Washington says the missile defense system -- due to be completed in four phases by roughly 2020 -- is meant to counter a potential threat from Iran. Moscow says the system will undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent because it could also give the West the ability to shoot down Russian missiles.

"A decision to use destructive force preemptively will be taken if the situation worsens," Makarov said, according to BBC News.

He said Russia would improve its defenses to counter the perceived threat, Russia Today reported.

"The deployment of new offensive armaments in southern and northwestern Russia … including Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad Region, provides for the destruction of the European missile defense infrastructure,” Makarov added.

Talks at dead end?
Negotiations between the U.S., NATO and Russia began Thursday in Moscow. However, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the discussions were "close to a dead end," BBC News reported.

The Kremlin wants a legally binding guarantee the system will not be used against Russia. The United States says it cannot agree to any formal limits on missile defense.

US Ambassador Mike McFaul vents on Twitter about Russian media

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was in London, U.K., said Thursday he was “hopeful” that a deal could be reached.

Rasmussen said a deal would not happen before a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21.

Report: Russia faced major nuclear disaster in 2011

"We will continue our dialogue with Russia...after the Chicago meeting," he told reporters.

The missile shield's first phase is to be declared up and running at the summit.

Russia missiles shown heading to U.S. cities
The planned system will include interceptor missiles based in Poland and Romania, a radar system in Turkey and missile-defense capable warships at sea.

At the conference in Moscow, Makarov told delegates the system will have the potential to intercept Russian IBMs and submarine-launched strategic ballistic missiles by 2017-18.

The audience, including U.S. and NATO officials, were shown computer-generated images depicting the reach of radars and interceptor missiles to be deployed as part of the shield.

Dome-like designs displaying interceptor ranges and blips of light representing Russian missiles headed for U.S. cities lit up the screen. 

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SEOUL, South Korea -- It was a comment not intended for public consumption, and another lesson for President Barack Obama on the importance of being careful about what you say around microphones, especially in an election year.

At the end of a 90-minute meeting between Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, journalists rushed in to hear remarks from the leaders about the content of their talks.

Journalists spied the two leaders leaning close together and talking in hushed tones.  According to those in the room, the conversation was difficult to hear but the videotape revealed Obama asking the Russian leader to wait until after the November election before pushing forward on the topic of a planned missile defense shield.

Photos: Obama and Medvedev talk nukes

"Pool" videotape provided more information about the conversation between the two leaders:

Obama: This is my last election…After my election I have more flexibility.

Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir. 

While most journalists didn't catch the rest, one Russian reporter managed to record the context with his equipment.

Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space.

Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you...

Obama: This is my last election…After my election I have more flexibility.

Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir. 

The planned anti-ballistic shield system has been one of many sore spots between the two world powers in the last few years.

Obama says US can reduce nuclear stockpile

Moscow says it fears the system would weaken Russia by gaining the capability to shoot down the nuclear missiles it relies on as a deterrent. It wants a legally binding pledge from the United States that Russia's nuclear forces would not be targeted by the system.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the overheard comments were not a departure from the Administration's stated policy and responded to the exchange with the following statement:

“The United States is committed to implementing our missile defense system, which we’ve repeatedly said is not aimed at Russia. However, given the longstanding difference between the US and Russia on this issue, it will take time and technical work before we can try to reach an agreement. Since 2012 is an election year in both countries, with an election and leadership transition in Russia and an election in the United States, it is clearly not a year in which we are going to achieve a breakthrough. Therefore, President Obama and President Medvedev agreed that it was best to instruct our technical experts to do the work of better understanding our respective positions, providing space for continued discussions on missile defense cooperation going forward.”

Medvedev may have told Obama that he understands Obama's predicament, but the White House has been under increasing pressure on the issue.  Last week, the Russian leader gave a downbeat assessment of global security and international relations, saying the "Euro-Atlantic" security community he had hoped to create remained a "myth."

Medvedev, who will be succeeded by Vladimir Putin in May, said Moscow was unconvinced by the argument that the planned missile defense shield was intended as protection against a missile attack by countries such as Iran.

"We have time (for an agreement) but it is running out, and I think that it would be in our mutual benefit to reach mutually acceptable agreements," Medvedev told a security conference.

"The main thing is that we must hear one simple thing - hear it and receive confirmation: 'Respected friends from Russia, our missile defense is not aimed against Russian nuclear forces.' This must be affirmed, not in a friendly chat over a cup of tea or a glass of wine, but in a document."

NBC News' Alicia Jennings and Kristen Welker, and Reuters contributed to this report.