January 7, 2011
Japan’s Defense Minister Kitazawa Toshimi will discuss with his South Korean counterpart the establishment of a Japan-South Korea Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) and a Japan-South Korea General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) during his stay in South Korea next week.
The former will facilitate the sharing of military equipment and services, and the latter will ensure the protection of confidential military information.
Japan’s successive governments have repeatedly tried to build a cooperative military relationship with South Korea, but all the attempts have ended up in failure due to anti-Japanese sentiment over Japan’s past colonial rule of Korea.
It is obviously unconstitutional for Japan, in the first place, to seek military ties with other countries in the light of Japan’s peaceful principles and its war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.
The present government led by the Democratic Party of Japan is again exploring the opportunity for concluding military accords with South Korea, proving that the new government has the same mind set as the previous governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party.
The Imperial Japanese Army inflicted great suffering on Koreans during the colonial period. The bitter experiences suffered under colonial rule have prevented military cooperation from taking shape.
Prime Minister Kan Naoto last December met with strong backlash from the South Korean press when he stated that he would dispatch the Self-Defense Forces to South Korea to rescue Japanese nationals in cases of a contingency in the region because the SDF represents to many Koreans the former Imperial Japanese Army.
Japan has so far refused to recognize its Annexation of Korea as an illegal act. It has also refused to give a sincere apology and offer compensation to victims who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the war.
The government of Japan will inevitably meet a fiercer backlash if it keeps pushing for Japan-S.Korea military cooperation.
The former will facilitate the sharing of military equipment and services, and the latter will ensure the protection of confidential military information.
Japan’s successive governments have repeatedly tried to build a cooperative military relationship with South Korea, but all the attempts have ended up in failure due to anti-Japanese sentiment over Japan’s past colonial rule of Korea.
It is obviously unconstitutional for Japan, in the first place, to seek military ties with other countries in the light of Japan’s peaceful principles and its war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.
The present government led by the Democratic Party of Japan is again exploring the opportunity for concluding military accords with South Korea, proving that the new government has the same mind set as the previous governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party.
The Imperial Japanese Army inflicted great suffering on Koreans during the colonial period. The bitter experiences suffered under colonial rule have prevented military cooperation from taking shape.
Prime Minister Kan Naoto last December met with strong backlash from the South Korean press when he stated that he would dispatch the Self-Defense Forces to South Korea to rescue Japanese nationals in cases of a contingency in the region because the SDF represents to many Koreans the former Imperial Japanese Army.
Japan has so far refused to recognize its Annexation of Korea as an illegal act. It has also refused to give a sincere apology and offer compensation to victims who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the war.
The government of Japan will inevitably meet a fiercer backlash if it keeps pushing for Japan-S.Korea military cooperation.
