Japan, to “Close Self Defense Forces and Have Armed Forces”

The Japan`s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) made a set of proposals for the amendment of the constitution which suggests abolishing the Self Defense Forces made only for the purpose of defending the nation after losing the Second World War but instead creating armed forces, a new military organization.

The LDP`s Research Commission on the Constitution will stipulate items which legalize having the armed forces, claiming the defense right and dispatching troops to overseas which are prohibited under the current constitution and will carry the intraparty deliberation from next month,

Apart from it, the Japanese government is pursuing to establish a new permanent organization similar to National Security Council (NSC) in order to promptly respond to pending issues related to its diplomacy and security.

Creating the proposed armed forces does not only change the names but will allow related laws to be changed. It is expected to be a large controversy as it represents a complete re-armament after dispatching forces in Iraq.

These proposals state that “this country reserves the right to individual and collective self-defense, and that the country possesses military forces for national defense.” This means that “the armed forces will be able to exercise not only the right to defense itself but to be involved in international disputes concerning allied countries.”

The current constitution prohibits Japan of having complete forces and exercising the right to collective self-defense according to the exclusively defense principle.

According to the proposals, the prime minister is allowed to declare a state of national emergency and order and direct the public and local governments. “In order to make the Self Defense Forces as Military Forces constitutional amendment is necessary,” Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi once said.

Meanwhile, the Japan Defense Agency will introduce an escort ship of 10 thousand liters of displacement capacity that is nearly a size of an airplane carrier and the biggest in terms of the Self Defense Forces` equipment in case of emergency in areas such as the Korean Peninsula, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. The escort ship that can carry large size helicopters will be used to assist naval activities of the Self Defense Forces and to save its citizens in case they are in danger in overseas.

On the establishing an organization similar to the NSC, the Asahi Shimbun said that this is being led by the hardliners against North Korea within the government and it focuses on having uniformed security policy against issues such as the North Korean nuclear crisis.

parkwj@donga.com