Keep a Close Eye on Japanese Moves to Re-ArmA committee under the Japanese prime minister has issued a report recommending that Japan should assert its right to "collective self-defense" under Article 51 of the UN Charter. This would allow Japan to sidestep its pacifist postwar constitution and engage in military activities overseas even if it is not directly attacked.

Japan has a bad track record when it comes to its military aspirations. Key politicians and military leaders were tried and convicted of war crimes by an international military tribunal following the end of World War II. And Japan clearly promised in Article 9 of its own constitution to "renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and use of force as a means of settling international disputes." When a similar controversy was brewing in 1968, Tokyo said it has the right to collective self-defense under the UN Charter but pledged only to respond to militarily attacks on its own soil unless the constitution was revised.

Mindful of international condemnation and opposition from the Japanese public to a full-fledged constitutional revision, the ruling party and rightwing factions have demanded a reinterpretation of the constitution so it can somehow sanction collective self-defense, and the Japanese government has in effect agreed with them. The committee's report has to be seen in that context.

Last month, the Diet also revised the country's atomic energy law for the first time in 34 years in a way that some fear could pave the way for Tokyo to acquire nuclear weapons. It includes a controversial phrase that says the safe use of atomic power contributes to "national security." Also last month, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency gave the green light to construction of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant that will enable Japan to acquire large amounts of high-grade plutonium that could be converted for military use.

When moves to change the constitution have been uncovered by the media, the Japanese government has pretended it was unaware of them. The Korean government has tended to side with Tokyo, saying these calls do not reflect the Japanese government's official stance or the opinions of the Japanese public at large.

Such naivete caused Seoul to suffer the embarrassment of trying to smuggle a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo past public notice, only to be forced to delay the signing of the agreement an hour before the event. It seems that the public now have to closely scrutinize each and every diplomatic and security policy pursued by the government.