Japan's new security policy: normalizing or remilitarizing?

• Published date: 28 February 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

The Japanese government has announced a new security policy aimed at acquiring counter-strike capabilities and doubling its defense expenditure over the next five years. This is a significant departure from Japan's long-held policy of limiting its security posture strictly to self-defense. It is also the second step taken by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-led government to expand the mandate of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). The first attempt came in 2015 in the form of a new security law authorizing the JSDF's overseas deployment for U.N. peacekeeping operations and collective self-defense activities.

The latest security policy should be understood in the broader context of a rising security dilemma in East Asia. A recent opinion poll shows that the Japanese public's support for counter-strike capabilities has risen in response to the heightening of perceived threats from its neighbors. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's repeated missile tests over the territorial waters of Japan have both contributed to underpinning this perception.

In the face of an increasingly uncertain and volatile security landscape, many regional states now feel less safe. This is why they are strongly motivated to take all necessary measures to enhance their security. But such measures are bound to be met with countermeasures due to a deepening mutual distrust between states. This begets a vicious cycle of chain reactions, which ultimately weaken, rather than improve, the overall security equation. A security dilemma reminiscent of the Cold War era is engulfing Northeast Asia once again.

Japan's neighbors have so far reacted to its new policy move in a rather predictable manner. As you might have guessed, China, Russia and North Korea have shown a much more hostile attitude toward Japan's security buildup than the U.S. and South Korea, who are in alliance with the island nation. From this, we can easily surmise that no matter what measures Japan decides to take, it will likely be met with strong opposition and countervailing measures from three out of four of its regional neighbors across the sea to its west.

Aside from how these neighbors feel about it, Tokyo's new security policy brings back the decades-old debate over the country's vision for its place in the global security order. Two opposing views exist.

Proponents of the first view tend to see Japan's new security policy as an extension of the LDP government's long-standing efforts to restore a normal...