Go to contents

Self-Defense Force might join allied forces, says Japanese politician

Self-Defense Force might join allied forces, says Japanese politician

Posted May. 19, 2014 02:52,   

한국어

No. 2 man of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party hinted at the possibility that the Japanese Self-Defense Force could participate in allied troops in the future. The advisory body for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe presented the view that the Self-Defense Force would exercise Japan’s self-defense right without consent of the country concerned (South Korea) in the event that the force seeks to rescue Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea. This suggests that if the "collective self-defense right" is allowed, Japan’s "war instinct" that has been sealed off by Article 9 of the Pacifist Constitution could revive.

In an interview with Yomiuri TV on Sunday, Shigeru Ishiba, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said, “In several years from now, when public perception changes, the view that ‘only Japan will not join U.N. Troops or allied forces’ might change.” However, he clarified, “The Abe administration will not join (allied force),” adding, “What will happen afterwards depends on what the next administration will seek to appeal to voters (in elections).”

Ishiba’s remarks have effectively left open the possibility that the Self-Defense Force could join allied forces and thus participate in a war in the future. The remarks run counter to the decisive statement that “the Self-Defense Force will never participate in a war like the Iraq war,” which Abe made at a press conference on Thursday last week to officially open debate over Japan’s exercise of self-defense right.