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| Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani vows to Japanese lawmakers after passing the security bills on Saturday morning. / Yonhap |
Japan's parliament has passed 11 security bills that will allow the country's Self-Defense Forces to fight alongside its allies even if Japan is not under attack.
Japan's upper house of parliament, led by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners, passed the bills amid strong objections from the opposition party. The lower house passed the legislation in July.
The bills allow the country the "collective self-defense right," which is reportedly the centerpiece of the new Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation adopted in April, according to a media report.
While the move is a significant change in Japan's post-war security policy, critics have denounced it as a precursor to Japan ultimately amending its pacifist constitution. Korea views it warily as it brings to mind Japan's past militarism, evident from its colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945, and from its part in instigating World War II, and the fear is that Japan may misuse this right.
Concerns about Japan seeking to re-establish its military have become distressing as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a series of nationalistic steps.
