Japan Ruling Camp Agrees to Allow Counterstrike Capabilities

Tokyo, Dec. 2 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling parties Friday agreed to allow the country to possess counterstrike capabilities, chiefly designed to attack enemy missile bases, as part of efforts to strengthen the country's defenses.

Based on the agreement between the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, the Japanese government will include a plan to possess counterstrike capabilities in its three key defense documents to be updated later this month.

This will mark a major shift in Japan's exclusively defense-oriented security policy. The ruling parties believe that the country's current missile defenses are not effective enough to deter threats from North Korea and China.

Ruling coalition officials approved a government policy of limiting the use of counterstrike capabilities to the minimum necessary within the scope of exercising the right to self-defense. The government will need to obtain parliamentary approval for the Self-Defense Forces to launch counterstrikes.

Counterstrikes will be used in situations in which the country's survival is threatened, under which Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense in a limited way, in addition to situations in which the country is directly attacked.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]