Japan and U.S. governments to complete in September revision of joint operation plans for contingencies on Korean Peninsula

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Japan and U.S. governments to complete in September revision of joint operation plans for contingencies on Korean Peninsula

Aiming at finishing the work by the end of September, the Japanese and U.S. governments are working on the revision of the 2001 Japan-U.S. joint operation plans in order to deal with possible contingencies on the Korean Peninsula.

They intend to give shape to the joint operation plans code-named "5055" by making use of the provisions mandating local governments in Japan to give the U.S. forces and the Self-Defense Forces priority use of their civil airports and seaports, which were incorporated into the legislation to deal with contingencies enacted in 2003 and 2004.

The new joint operation plans are to mobilize the whole of Japan for U.S. military intervention in the Korean Peninsula.

The present joint operation plans were drawn up on the basis of the Law on Measures to Deal with Situations in Areas Surrounding Japan and related laws that stipulate the cooperation of Japan with the U.S. forces in case of U.S. military intervention in the Asia-pacific region but they do not provide for the compulsory use of civil airports and seaports in Japan

Following the enactment of the contingency legislation that set up a legal framework to provide for it, the two governments agreed in October 2005 to start to work on the revision of the joint operation plans to "reflect Japan's recent legislation to deal with contingencies."

In reply to an inquiry by Japanese Communist Party Dietmember Ogata Yasuo, the Cabinet Secretariat made public that the government held a meeting of bureau heads of concerned ministries and agencies to examine the joint operation plans on November 21, 2006 for the first time in seven years at the Prime Minister's Official Residence.

On December 13, a meeting of the Japan-U.S. Bilateral Planning Committee (BPC), which is responsible for formulating the joint operation plans, was held in Tokyo for the first time in four years with the attendance of uniformed members of both sides, including the deputy commander of U.S. Forces in Japan and the vice chief of staff of the SDF Joint Staff Office.

It is considered that the BPC meeting was held to initiate the work, following the Japanese government bureau heads meeting which had adopted a general policy that the Japanese government will work on the revision of the joint operation plans.

The government has announced nothing about the contents of the work. However, persons involved in the work pointed out they assume they involve contingencies on the Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. has reportedly informed Japan of about 30 specific airports and seaports that they want to use.

From 2003, the year in which the contingency legislation was enacted, until 2005, U.S. military aircraft landed at 38 civil airports in Japan. Among them, 14 airports were used more than 10 times. U.S. warships visited 22 civil ports between 2003 and May 2006.
- Akahata, January 30, 2007