nkorea

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Do not step in dangerous path
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Following the ballistic missile launches by North Korea, Defense Agency Director General Nukaga Fukushiro and some other ministers made remarks suggesting Japan should have the "capability to attack enemy missile bases."

Nukaga said, "It stands to reason that Japan should maintain the capability to attack foreign missile bases." He was echoed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo who said, "We need to consider and study the idea." They are thus calling for Japan to be armed with offensive arms to fire missiles preemptively at foreign bases.

At a time when various countries are trying to make efforts to resolve the issue of North Korea's missile firings, these ministers are calling for a military buildup in response to this issue. This goes against the world effort and makes it more difficult to solve the missile launch issue.

Arguments ignoring United Nations Charter

The government has stated that it is legally possible for Japan to strike a foreign guided missile base within the framework of the right to self-defense if it has no other way to defend itself (February 1956, Prime Minister Hatoyama Ichiro).

While this was accepted as a legal argument, the recent remarks by ministers called for Japan to have the "capability to attack enemy missile bases."

The call for a "strike against enemy missile bases" is intended to allow Japan to launch an attack even though it has not been attacked. It is nothing other than the concept of preemptive attack.

Article 51 of the United Nations Charter states, "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense" only in the event of "an armed attack," and denies the concept of making preemptive attacks against an enemy base simply based on the perceived danger of an enemy missile attack. Such an arbitrary interpretation of the U.N. Charter cannot be accepted internationally.

If Japan is to have capabilities to "attack enemy missile bases," Japan will obtain offensive arms, including long-range cruise missiles, to be used to attack foreign countries preemptively. This is an argument that completely overrides the stated "exclusively defensive defense policy." It is a policy which the government has put forward because it cannot disregard the provision of Article 9 of the Constitution.

How outrageous it is to use North Korea's missile launches to assert the legitimacy of Japan's capabilities to "attack enemy missile bases." Such unconstitutional statements must be withdrawn immediately.

The South Korean government critically pointed to the emergence of an aggressive tendency in Japan. No wonder foreign countries are alarmed by Japan's extraordinary reaction. Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's Yasukuni Shrine visits have already made Japan's Asia diplomacy very difficult. Worse still, the call for having the capability to "attack enemy missile bases" will only deepen Japan's isolation in Asia

Arms race threatens peace

We should note that the recent agreement on transforming the Japan-U.S. military alliance into a more aggressive one through increasing military cooperation constitutes a new threat to Asia. If Japan has the capability to "attack enemy missile bases" and launch preemptive attacks in the name of "self-defense," it will just lead to counter-attacks from other countries and add fuel to an endless arms race.

Japan with its war-renouncing Constitution must not commit itself to an arms race that will increase military tensions in Asia.
- Akahata, July 13, 2006