Japan’s Self-Defense Forces Participate in the PSI Drill

The Asahi Daily reported yesterday that a multinational joint military drill for the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) against WMD will be held in the open sea of Tokyo Bay on October 26, with Japan taking the initiative and 18 nations including the U.S., Australia, and France participating.

In this drill, Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, together with the military of the other participating nations, will board an imaginary ship carrying WMD and search for relevant materials, virtually targeting North Korea. The newspaper reported that North Korea is strongly opposing to the drill.

In terms of the participation of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, there are voices within Japan that it will be a violation against the current Constitution that forbids the mobilization of military equipment in peaceful times. The Maritime Self-Defense Force has been participating in drills with the status only as an observer, but this time, it will be participating in the search process as a separate drill after the main drill is over.

In this PSI drill, held in Asia for the first time, the U.S., Australia, and France will be officially taking part, and 14 nations, including Russia, will be participating as observers. South Korea and China will not be participating in consideration of North Korea.

North Korea condemned through a recent statement of its Foreign Affairs Ministry, “The PSI drill is an act which flies in the face of the spirit of the Pyongyang Declaration stating that North Korea and Japan promise to restrain mutual provocations.”

The Asahi Daily reported that although the situation settings do not target any specific nation in this drill, neighboring countries like China and North Korea, which have been condemning Japan for planning a maritime military drill, are expected to repel.

The PSI drill, in which the U.S. has been taking the initiative, is a multinational military drill aimed at forming an international blockade to intercept and capture ships and airplanes transporting nuclear or biochemical weapons and parts, and the main targets are North Korea and Iran.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com