Japan studying SDF response to Korean Peninsula crisis

The Japanese government has begun discussing how the Self-Defense Forces would respond to a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Why? Is this why Abe wants to change the Constitution?The Japanese should mind their own business and let the Koreans fight among themselves. Unless their really want the same Koreans to come around and accuse Japan of killing their fellow countrymen and ask for reparations.

Through the discussions, the government is looking to work out what the SDF is legally permitted to do in specific scenarios of varying gravity.

This is why the constitution needs to be revised. If Japan is attacked or drawn into conflict there will be no time to be arguing what's legal or not. No need for Japan to tie it's own hands in defending itself.

There is zero likelihood that North and South Korea will "fight among themselves". The current armistice is between North Korea and the UN Command.

Agreed, Japan has to have the constitutional clarity to be able to defend their allies without hand wringing about the constitution slowing them down.

@Ossan - thanks for pointing out this is not a conflict between North and South Korea. Korea was once a pawn used by the U.S.S.R. and U.S. after WW2. The country was ripped apart with families divided (i.e. left behind on one side of the 38th parallel or other).

The Korean people are the victims in this conflict and unfortunately one of the leaders has decided to create a hermit kingdom/dictatorship.

Although South Korea is positioned to take the brunt of the consequences of conflict the issue is between North Korea and the UN as stated above.

I am not into New Year predictions but my bet is that It is likely this issue will be resolved one way or another this year.

Abe hailed from Yamaguchi Prefecture (Choshu). Choshu group is known playing a big role in building an imperial army lead by Gen. Aritomo Yamagata. They are nationalists by nature and like wars.

Between NK and the UN?

I don't think Kim is that bothered about the UN. His real beef is with the U.S. And to understand why that is, it's necessary to understand a few things:

https://www.vox.com/2015/8/3/9089913/north-korea-us-war-crime

The World is with you as long as article 9 remains unchanged in the constitution, if you revise the constitution your on your own. You haven't the man power to go it alone, you'll send your economy into a tailspin where there will be no recovery, your population is on the decline, and think about the human cost and destruction a conflict will bring. Dialogue is the only solution, however long it takes. America doesn't care about the Japanese people or its neighbors , corporate America only ever thinks about itself, because that's who runs America. Asia and its cultural ways are not understood by the West, plus look what happened in the middle east, look at the human suffering and damage the West did and is still doing over what, (oil control ?), is that what the Japanese political elite want to bring onto the Japanese people. The economic engine of Asia is a threat to corporate America, something they will never control. So just think hard Japan before you try to make changes to your peaceful constitution that has served you well for the last 70 plus years.

re: Minello7, read your post and everyone is entitled to their own opinions, however when you change your opinion and try to sell it as factual well then all bets are off and your fair game. While the world is with you is somewhat correct it does not fully apply to Const:9 but rather concern for the people of Japan. Who are you to say what Japan can or cannot do despite the numbers. Japan has overcome undaunted odds and still remains. You are not the subject matter expert to tell any country what or when they can recover. That is the beauty of Japan and its resilience yet you say that you know Japan. haha good joke as the Americans point out. You say America only cares about itself yet the billions of dollars well into the trillions it has given support to other countries including Japan but again your comments are anti America as perhaps something a Chinese or Russian sympathizer would put it. Be careful of your words and choose them more carefully. You point out the Middle East, that part of the world has been fighting long before you were born or much an afterthought of you being born. Yes Ouch..is right, so again your comments have no merit other than to bash the United States but enjoy the results of its great works. You seem to like to bash it out at the very country or countries who provide and protest you the liberty to do so again only something that a Chinese or Russian sympathizer would say. The very thought of US control of an Asian market it has never wanted to be the world police but the world that has put the US in that role, with no one willing to assume the role but less play the role as dictatorship to one ruler, that is what you seem to prefer. Japan can take care of its own without the helpless comments you have posted. Again this is not a direct attack on you personally but rather in the defense of Japan and America. We can take care of our own and do not need China nor Russia to dictate how to run our countries. Best to you.

There is nothing SDF can do. The SDF is not allowed to cross the JADIZ/KADIA boundary line. Just stay home and do nothing.

The National Security Council will examine specific scenarios such as an inadvertent clash between North and South Korean forces, a U.S. pre-emptive strike on the North, an invasion of South Korea by the North, and a North Korean missile landing on Japanese soil, the sources said.

Any of these scenarios are likely and Japan it is prudent for Japan to make contingency plans as they will be involved directly or indirectly, especially as a member of the UN.  But in addition, Japan should look at the scenario when China invades and annexes Taiwan and how it will affect Japan's national security, especially as Taiwan is close to Okinawa.

America doesn't care about the Japanese people or its neighbors , corporate America only ever thinks about itself, because that's who runs America. Asia and its cultural ways are not understood by the West, plus look what happened in the middle east, look at the human suffering and damage the West did and is still doing....(minello7)

@minello7:  Sounds straight out of the PRC, DPRK or Soviet-era propaganda line.  And I suppose China, particularly with its "One Belt, One Road" program, doesn't have ulterior motives?  And it's okay for China to embark on its economic and military expansionism program (in other words, "Imperialism") throughout Asia as it plans to displace the U.S. as a World Power, if not Imperialist Power?  Ask yourself why Taiwan and Hong Kong oppose PRC China domination?  Or why South Korea opposes the North Korean DPRK regime?  Do you think China (or Russia, for that matter) is more benevolent, peace-loving and less imperialist than the U.S.?  And what about the human suffering and genocide the Communists committed after taking over Russia, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.?

They agreed to run simulations of "wartime" scenarios and discussed how many U.S. troops stationed outside of Japan could arrive as reinforcements.

Is this part of the solution, or part of the problem?

A participant was quoted as warning that North Korea could fire a ballistic missile tipped with a chemical warhead at Japan.

If things were to kick off, this is highly likely bevause the DPRK knows it's only chance is its first chance.

I am not sure what the disconnect is, but Kim plans to mass produce H-bomb tipped ICBMs like sausages. Whereas now Japan might suffer some damage from a NK attack, soon (if the US or China doesn't do something about it) NK will be able to completely destroy Japan on a whim (along with Russia, China, and the US). Think this is hyperbole? Frankly, given Japan's treatment of Koreans during WWII, I would say they are near the top of NK's list of countries they would take great satisfaction demanding tribute from (I mean extortion). I laugh when I think of the two rather small nuclear bombs the US dropped on Japan, compared to the awesome nuclear arsenal that NK will soon mass produce. Wake up Japan! This has to be nipped in the bud or NK will own you.

This is part of what I was trying to say:

"Over a period of three years or so, we killed off — what — 20 percent of the population," Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, told the Office of Air Force History in 1984. Dean Rusk, a supporter of the war and later secretary of state, said the United States bombed "everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another." After running low on urban targets, U.S. bombers destroyed hydroelectric and irrigation dams in the later stages of the war, flooding farmland and destroying crops."

I wonder if any of the six people who voted me down on my post actually read the link. The beef is NOT between Kim and the UN. The beef is with the US. Japan sides with the US, therefore Japan is a target.

Read the link.

Please people, don't speak about war in such a superficial way. The USA isn't a bunch of good superheroes who want to defend the weak nations. The USA is a declining superpower that is trying to defend its strategical interests around the world, against China and Russia' s increasing influences. China and Russia are superpowers as well. China is also overtaking the USA economically. Stop acting naive. The main conflict isn't between North Korea and the USA, but between China and the USA. Exactly like the conflict in Syria, is a conflict between the USA and Russia. Small Countries are victims of these superpowers war games. We must hope the USA and China will find a diplomatic solution about North Korea. I believe it's very difficult, because North Korea is basically Chinese territory, while South Korea is American territory. So, the unification should happen under the USA or China hegemony. Currently, the USA are hoping that North Korea regime can collapse under the weight of economic sanctions, but China doesn't want it, because this would mean unification of Korean peninsula under American hegemony. Both China and the USA must use diplomacy anyway, despite how complicated the situation is. A war on the Korean peninsula would mean basically a war between China and the USA, exactly like others conflicts are conflicts between the USA and Russia. If the USA will start also a conflict in the Korean peninsula, we can say WWIII is definitely started. World leaders are irresponsible monsters, they don't care about people lives. The USA should give up about their hegemony in Asia and accept a multipolar world. They aren't alone anymore. China and Russia came back. The status quo in the Korean peninsula should be kept for the sake of world peace, and Asian people in the first place. If North Korea hadn't all those economic sanctions, it would be way calmer, and probably it would start to feel the benefits from Chinese economic growth, even with Kim Jong Un regime. I find unfair like the USA speak about war so easily, just because the war would never touch their Country. I don't believe North Korea is able to attack the USA, sorry. This is only propaganda.

Russia created North Korea and the Kim Monarchy. China has sustained both. The responsibility to solve the problem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the world's largest concentration camp, lies squarely on the shoulders of Russia and China. There is no moral equivalency between North and South Korea. And to say that the United States used Korea for their own gain shows a remarkable ignorance of history. When North Korea attacked South Korea, the United States was completely unprepared for that war. If the US had a sinister plan for Korea, our military would have been much better prepared. Russia and China created this problem, now it is time they solved it.

Another, obvious fact: if my earlier post wasn't clear enough about this, Japan and South Korea are American vassal states, exactly like North Korea is a Chinese vassal state. So, these Countries haven't a real independence about foreign policy. China is driving North Korea's actions, while America is driving Japanese and South Korean actions. This is so blatant, but some people don't want to admit that American "allies" are only vassal states. Someday, in history books, we'll see these States called with their proper definition, that is vassal states.

Hachidori, Why? Is this why Abe wants to change the Constitution?The Japanese should mind their own business and let the Koreans fight among themselves. Unless their really want the same Koreans to come around and accuse Japan of killing their fellow countrymen and ask for reparations.

Hachidori, N. Korea will attack Japan if the war broke out in Korean peninsula. I agreed one thing with you. It's Japanese Government should not involve in the Middle East War and Africa, especially must not involve in any kind of Muslim problems.

The Korea peninsula crisis is closed to home and Japan can not avoid it if the war broke out between two Korea Countries. The preparation for defensive and protecting civilians will be useful for any crisis in the Korean peninsula. The fatty kid is unpredictable and Japanese military's radar need to operate 24/7 for incoming missiles from N. Korea.

I hope N. Korea will dismantle Nuclear Weapons and ICBM itself.