Japan warned against mission here
Japan's chief of staff of the Joint Staff Council, Japan Self-Defense Forces, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, left, and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington Major General Bradley Becker listen to national anthems during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, Thursday, in Arlington, Va. / AFP-Yonhap
‘Role of Japanese Self-Defense Forces will be limited to logistical support’
By Yi Whan-woo
Japan will not engage in direct combat when it deploys its military forces on the Korean Peninsula to support the U.S. troops stationed there in emergency situations, according to its top military commander.
Speaking in Washington D.C., Thursday, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, the chief of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF)’s Joint Staff, said the role of the SDF instead will be limited to logistical support.
“Such a basic framework will remain unchanged even if our new security bills are approved by parliament,” he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a conservative, foreign policy think tank based in the U.S. capital.
Kawano was one of the security experts invited by the CSIS for a discussion under the theme, “Transition and Progress of the Japan-U.S. Alliance.”
“In a state of emergency or urgency on the peninsula, Japan will take measures in accordance with our law that stipulates how we act in times of crisis for the country,” he said. “Under such conditions, logistics support is what we’ll be able to provide through consultation with the U.S. and South Korea.”
His comments came amid lingering concerns in Seoul that Tokyo may revert to militarism under its nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government and forcibly enter its soil in order to deter a possible North Korean attack.
Led by Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition ally Komeito, Japan’s lower house of parliament set a number of bills Thursday that remove geographic limits on the SDF’s role. This now needs the approval of the upper chamber of parliament to take effect.
The legislation, which opponents say will undermine the country’s pacifist Constitution, will allow Japan to fight against other countries if they attack Tokyo’s allies, mainly the U.S.
Japan introduced the controversial legislation in the wake of the Abe government’s re-interpretation of the U.S.-imposed Constitution in July 2014.
It also came after revision of the U.S.-Japan defense cooperation pact in April 2014, which is aimed at giving the SDF authority to help U.S. forces globally in case of military emergencies.
Washington is geared toward cutting military spending while trying to contain emerging China and to discourage North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Kawano met with his U.S. counterpart, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, earlier on Thursday and discussed implementation of the new Washington-Tokyo defense guidelines.
In relation to China’s military aggression in the South China Sea, Kawano said it was possible Japan would carry out patrols and surveillance, including sub-marine activities.
The U.S. and Japan have criticized China for building artificial islands in the region for military purposes amid territorial disputes involving the Philippines and Vietnam.
“My sense is that this trend will continue into the future where China will go beyond the island chain in the Pacific,” Kawano said. “So if anything, I believe the situation will worsen.”