We Should Keep a Close Watch on Japan’s Constitutional Amendment

 

The election of the House of Councilors was held in Japan on July 10. As a result, those in favor of constitutional amendment took more than two thirds of seats in the Diet.

In this regard, foreign media unanimously comments that Japan will further speed up its constitutional amendment.

After the election, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida expressed his intention to accelerate constitutional amendment, saying that “he will immediately propose a bill on it in the Diet.”

If Constitution is amended, more exactly, if Article 9 of Japan’s “Peace Constitution” stipulating the renunciation of war and the waiver of its combat strength and the right of belligerency is amended, Japan will become a country that can fight a war.

It is too natural that the Asian countries and the international society are raising their voices of concern over the constitutional amendment of Japan.

It is because Japan is a war criminal state that inflicted untold pains and misfortunes on the people of Asian countries including Korea in the last century.

What’s more, Japan is now denying and distorting its past history of aggression, far from reflecting on it in a proper manner. Such an impudent act is no different from expressing Japan’s willingness to repeat the criminal history.

Japan’s constitutional amendment is by no means the beginning of its preparation for realizing the wild ambition to become a military power and to reinvade.

Right-wing conservative forces have long secured attack capability by squandering a large amount of military expenditure in the sky, land, waters, space and cyberspace under the pretext of “threats from its neighbors”. They are also going to specify its possession of the “capability to attack enemy base” in the “national security strategy”, to be amended at the end of this year.

Also they are blowing hot air that they would increase the military expenditure to the level of over 2% of GDP in 5 years in order to possess enormous military strength.

If the constitution is amended and the possession of army is legalized, present “Self-Defense Force” will be transformed into a dangerous offensive force. And if so, there will be no guarantee that its dirty boots will not head for the Korean peninsula and Asian countries again just like 100- odd years ago.

However, Japan should never misjudge the strength and will of the Asian countries to defend themselves from foreign invasion. They are not the same as 100-odd years ago.

Japan should not act rashly, being aware of the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its constitutional amendment, increased military expenditure and possession of the “capability to attack enemy base”.

Ra Guk Chol

Researcher of the Institute for Studies of Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, DPRK