US, Japan Step Up Military Integration

The alliance between the U.S. and Japan will undergo an upgrade as the two nations have settled how to share the relocation cost of the U.S. navy base in Okinawa, Japan.

The Daily Yomiuri reported on Thursday that the U.S. and Japan have agreed to amend the Guidelines for US-Japan Defense Cooperation, which were agreed to in 1997, and that they are currently working out the final details.

According to the Japanese daily, the U.S. and Japan are currently discussing amending the guidelines during US-Japan Security Consultative Committee, a meeting attended by U.S. state and defense secretaries, and Japanese foreign affairs and defense ministers planned for early May.

As a result, military integration between the two countries will be accelerated. This fits the U.S.’s military reorganization scenario.

What will be in the new guidelines?-

Japan`s Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga suggested to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in January 2006 that the guidelines be amended. Secretary Rumsfeld agreed to the suggestion on April 23, during the negotiation on how to split the costs of moving the U.S. Marine base from Okinawa to Guam.

The new guidelines are believed to include widening mutual cooperation during international peacekeeping activities, sharing information and expanding joint strategic plans on weapons of mass destruction, and giving the U.S. access to Japanese airports and harbors in case of a war in Japan and surrounding regions.

The current guidelines were introduced in 1978 and were amended in 1997. The guidelines include specific cooperation procedure for three different situations – in time of peace, war in Japan, and war in surrounding regions of Japan. Japan enacted its laws regarding wars based on the guidelines in 1999.

According to the Daily Yomiuri, Japan`s Defense Agency will prepare a new draft of the guideline in 2007.

The implications-

The strengthening of the alliance shows that the definition of national security has taken on new meanings in this new time of territorial dispute which replaced the cold war.

The U.S. has been inspecting its organization and equipment, since the 9-11 terror attacks, and it is now requesting its allies to take up more of the human and financial burden.

It is a chance for Japan to change from being a country under U.S.’s deterrence and move one step closer to becoming a “normal state” – a nation with a voice in international politics and its own defense force. It is also a remedy to “new threats” like North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

When the guideline is amended and the “Permanent Law on Overseas Deployment of Japan’s Self-Defense Force” is enacted, the integration of the U.S. and Japanese forces will be accelerated, because Japan will be allowed to send the Japan Self-Defense Force to US-led coalition forces.

Controversy surrounding the relocation costs-

The Japanese media outlets reported that the Japanese government was in shock when Richard Lawless, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, stated that Japan’s share of the relocation costs will amount to 3 trillion yen (approximately 25.5 trillion won).

Japanese government officials played down the statement as a message to satisfy the U.S. citizens. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi went on record to conjecture that the U.S. government is just countering the U.S. media which is unhappy that Japan committed too little to meet America’s contribution.

If Lawless’s statement is accurate, Japan will have to pay an average of 500 billion yen yearly, which accounts for 10 percents of Japan’s yearly defense costs of about 4.8 trillion yen.

Young-A Soh sya@donga.com