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The Japanese military has prepared an action plan to counter possible attacks from North Korea and China in case diplomatic ties with the two Asian countries deteriorate. Japan's Self Defense Forces maintain a low profile under a pacifist constitution, but a Japanese daily reports the contingency plan suggests a shift toward a more aggressive role.
Japan appears to be taking a more active military stance in Asia by readying its troops against possible attacks by North Korea and China. The Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reports on Monday that Japan's Ground Self Defense Force has prepared a contingency plan focusing on countering possible attacks from the two neighboring countries.
Until recently, Japan has deliberately kept a low military profile, wary of agitating its Asian neighbors, mainly Korea and China, which were forcefully colonized by Japan during World War Two. But with the dispatch of soldiers to aid U.S. forces in Iraq, Japan has been seeking to take a more active military role overseas.
The latest contingency plan deals with North Korean missile attacks on U.S. military bases or key government and business facilities in Japan in case relations between North Korea and the United States deteriorate further.
Japanese military officials have also planned against a possible Chinese attack should Sino-U.S. ties turn sour over Taiwan. A brewing dispute between Japan and China over gas drilling rights in the East China Sea is another possible source of agitation. The fields lie in an area between the Chinese city of Shanghai and the southern Japanese island of Okinawa that both countries say is within their exclusive economic zones.
In April, Tokyo allowed Japanese companies to explore gas fields in the disputed waters while China called the move a serious provocation.
Arirang News
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