US backs Seoul over Japan in military contingency plan

By Jun Ji-hye

The government welcomed U.S. clarification Monday that its forces stationed in Japan would automatically intervene in a conflict on the Korean Peninsula, dismissing Japan’s stance that any such move required prior consultation with it because they are stationed on its territory.

“We believe the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty takes priority in the case of North Korean provocations and the U.S. government backs our position,” a defense ministry official said.

The U.S. State Department made clear that Washington would not discuss contingency plans with Japan, and was prepared to carry out all obligations under its bilateral security treaty and joint operational plans with South Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in July that U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) needed to have prior consultation with Tokyo and seek its understanding before sending troops to Korea.

Some experts, such as Jeffrey Hornung of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, have supported Abe’s remarks.

Hornung wrote on the Center for Strategic and International Studies website on Nov. 10, “What Abe said is legally accurate … Abe’s statement is important in reminding South Koreans about Japan’s significance for South Korea’s security.”

However, the defense ministry denied this with Washington’s backing on the basis of the U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty.

Military experts stressed that USFJ has been playing a role as the United Nations Command’s (UNC) rear-area headquarters, saying there was no basis for Japan to meddle.

“USFJ has a mission of support in the case of contingencies, in cooperation with United States Forces Korea,” said Kim Dae-young, a senior research fellow of the Korea Defense and Security Forum. “The Japanese government does not have the authority to demand prior consultation when the bases carry out their mission.”

Kim said Washington’s latest statement could be interpreted as a warning to the Abe administration that it should refrain from making remarks about USFJ intervention.

Korea Research Institute for Strategy senior researcher Moon Seong-mook agreed.

“UNC rear bases are very important places for the national security of the Korean Peninsula as they are supposed to be utilized in the event of war,” he said. “When the Korean War broke out in 1950, American soldiers in Japan were one of the first to arrive on the peninsula.”

He said that amid the troubled relations between Seoul and Tokyo, the U.S. might have said indirectly that Tokyo’s decision to lift the ban on exercising its collective self-defense had nothing to do with the Korean Peninsula.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye