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| Defense Minister Han Min-koo speaks during the National Assembly's annual audit session at the ministry's headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Monday. Han said the Japanese military could not enter Korea without Seoul's permission even if the United States requested such a move. / Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
South Korea is expected to adopt a two-track approach when dealing with Japan's military expansion — seeking Tokyo's support to better deter North Korea's threats, while pressing it to apologize for its wartime atrocities, analysts said Monday.
The Japanese Diet approved revised security bills Saturday that permit its military to fight abroad for the first time since World War II.
The approval prompted concerns here that Tokyo may continue to deny its wartime crimes, revert to militarism again, and that its military may even forcibly enter the Korean Peninsula in the event of emergencies without South Korea's consent.
However, even under these circumstances, it is crucial for South Korea to enhance its trilateral security alliance with the United States and Japan to combat North Korean provocations, analysts said. They also underscored Washington's role as a "link" between Seoul and Tokyo, citing Defense Minister Han Min-koo.
During the National Assembly's annual audit session, Monday, Han said Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) may not come on to the peninsula without South Korea's consent even if the U.S. requests them to do so.
"Our wartime operational control is carried out under the command of the presidents of both South Korea and U.S. It needs approval from our president for the SDF to land here," Han said.
Kim Yeoul-soo, an international relations professor at Sungshin Women's University, assessed that the government is right to maintain a two-track strategy.
"Seoul made it clear that it respects Japan's decision on security affairs as a sovereign state, while dealing with history-related issues separately through its statement," he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Japan, Saturday, to "pursue the spirit of the postwar Pacifist Constitution" and did not denounce the Upper House of the Diet's passage of 11 security bills.
Ten of them are designed to allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to defend its allies, mainly the U.S. and launch preemptive attacks against enemies if necessary.
The legislation is aimed at speeding up U.S.-Japan defense alliance to contain a rising China and prevent North Korea's cycle of provocations.
China interpreted Japan's passage of the bills as giving up efforts for peaceful development.
Describing the legislation as "evil," North Korea said Japan is gearing up toward militarization.
Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong University, agreed with Kim.
He claimed it is part of the "inevitable flow of history" for Japan to become a "normal state," a term used to refer to a Japan capable of using its military forces for the purposes of self-defense and first-strikes.
The U.S.-imposed Pacifist Constitution allowed the SDF to respond against enemies only when they forcibly entered Japanese territory.
"With the U.S. re-balancing its roles in the Asia-Pacific region, Washington wants Tokyo to take a part against China's growing military assertiveness," Park said. "Backed by the U.S., Japan will accelerate in becoming a normal state regardless of who succeeds Abe. And we should cope with it, not go against it."
Lee Myeon-woo, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, said that North Korea poses the "biggest and substantial" threat to South Korea, while fears over Japan's possible militarization are "abstract."
"Instead of being in panic, what we should do is find out how Japan's new security laws will influence the security landscape in the region and negotiate with Japan accordingly," he said. "That's why it will be important for the government to host the Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) next month."
South Korea plans to hold the DTT with the U.S. and Japan in Seoul in mid-October to better understand Tokyo's security laws and discuss what impact they can bring to security on the Korean Peninsula, according to sources.
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