WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that calls for greater missile defense cooperation with South Korea and Japan against threats from North Korea.

The legislation, H.R.3979, calls for the secretary of defense to conduct an assessment to identify opportunities for increasing missile defense cooperation with the two allies and evaluate options for enhanced short-range missile, rocket, and artillery defense capabilities to address threats from the Korean Peninsula.

The bill passed the House on Thursday last week and awaits approval from the Senate.

“It is the sense of Congress that increased cooperation on missile defense among the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea would enhance the security of allies of the United States in Northeast Asia, increase the defense of forward-based forces of the United States, and enhance the protection of the United States with regard to threats from the Korean Peninsula,” the legislation said.

The legislation requires the defense secretary to conduct an assessment on candidate areas for increasing missile defense cooperation, potential challenges and limitations to such cooperation, and other matters and report the outcome to the congressional defense committees within six months.

The U.S. has pushed to build a regional missile defense with South Korea and Japan in a move that critics say is aimed not only at countering North Korean treats, but also keeping China in check.

Seoul has said it will build its own Korean Air and Missile Defense System, rather than joining the U.S. system.