TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States and Japan have agreed to locate a second missile defense radar on Japanese territory to protect against a ballistic missile threat from North Korea, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday.

"(It) will enhance the alliance's ability to defend Japan, our forward deployed forces and the U.S. homeland from a ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea," Panetta told a news conference.

He was speaking after a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto in Tokyo.

(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)