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| Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks up during a plenary session at the lower house in Tokyo, Thursday. Japan's lower house of parliament approved legislation that would allow an expanded role for the nation's military in a vote boycotted by the opposition. / AP-Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are likely to attend the upcoming Military World Games to be held here in early October, as an observer for the first time since the Games began in 1995.
Japan had refrained from participating in the quadrennial global sports event for soldiers because the status of its armed forces was not equivalent to that of other countries.
However, Japan has changed its position to compete in the Games, and the International Military Sports Council (CISM), the organizer of the Games, gave a positive response, sources said.
The move is seen as an apparent effort by the Shinzo Abe administration to become a "normal" state with a full-fledged military.
However, possible participation in the Games may trigger resistance from Korea and China, among other countries, which still have bitter memories of Imperial Japan's militarism before and during World War II.
Olivier Verhelle, a CISM official who helps manage the Games, said his organization sent open invitations to Japan and 40 other nations that meet the basic statutory conditions to join the council.
"For the moment, all these nations have the right to attend the Games as observers, not fielding athletes," he told The Korea Times.
"The initiative was taken in a common endeavor to enhance our motto, ‘Friendship through Sport.' We do not apply any specific treatment to Japan."
He said he is optimistic that Japan will join the CISM in the very near future, saying positive discussions were had between the organization and Tokyo over the past six months.
Verhelle said the CISM's previous internal regulations had a very strict definition of armed forces, but it revised them last year to add more "comprehensive flexibility."
"The modifications are not only addressed to Japan, but around the world. There are many nations that do not have purely armed forces, but rather have defense forces, security forces and national guards," he said. "So we judged it was not fair to block these nations from joining our organization."
An official from the organizing committee for the 2015 World Games Korea said that Japan is hoping to come for the Games, saying that the country asked the CISM on March 20 to allow its entry into the 2015 Games.
"Some generals of the SDF may come to observe the Games. We won't be able to say exactly whether they will attend until next month after the deadline for applications," he said.
The official noted that Japan's move reflects its desire to have the SDF be globally recognized as a military.
"We do not have the right to block the country's participation as this is a sports event, which should be separated from political matters," he said.
An official of the Ministry of National Defense said it was improper for the government to speak about a foreign country's move to join the CISM or the organization's possible decision to accept it.
"There could be opposition inside Japan against the country's effort to earn recognition of the SDF as a military," he said. "If the forces want to be recognized, the country should act responsibly."
Article 9 of the Japan's postwar Constitution prohibits the use of force to settle international disputes. This is why the SDF have not been recognized as a formal military.
However, the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has adopted a new interpretation to its pacifist constitution and pushed through controversial security bills in order to enable expansion of the role of its forces overseas.
On Thursday, Japan's lower house of parliament approved the legislation in a vote boycotted by the opposition.
