Photo/Illutration Itsunori Onodera, center, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Security, speaks to reporters on April 21. (Naotaka Fujita)

The Liberal Democratic Party’s Research Commission on Security formally submitted recommendations to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 27 that Japan should possess so-called “counterattack capabilities” against a potential foe. 

Kishida, who is expected to compile a new National Security Strategy by the end of the year, said, “I take (the recommendations) seriously and hope to move the discussion forward.”

Itsunori Onodera, a former defense minister who chairs the commission, told reporters that Kishida said it will not be possible to move forward on acquiring counterattack capability and increasing the defense budget accordingly without first obtaining the public’s understanding.

The LDP will also need to hold discussions about this with its junior coalition partner, Komeito.

Discussions over this are expected to start after the Upper House election in summer.

One of the recommendations used the term “counterattack capability,” with which the Self-Defense Forces could strike an enemy base believed to have started preparing for an attack against Japan, such as with ballistic missiles or other military means.

The way the idea was first broached had made it sound like pre-emptive strike capability, but Komeito objected to that wording amid concerns it would fly in the face of Japan’s defense-only posture, so it was changed.

Potential targets would include the enemy’s command and control functions.

The recommendations also urged the government to increase defense spending to at least 2 percent of gross domestic product within five years.

This capability would allow Japan to play a part in U.S. strike capabilities and help launch a broader attack.

In the clause mentioning the term “counterattack capabilities,” the commission did not mention North Korea and instead focused on China, which has boosted its military capabilities, as a figurative example.

The recommendations also said Japan has been “reliant on the United States in terms of strike capabilities against an enemy region” and that “it is feared that only (relying on) interception (would not be enough to) defend our nation,” suggesting Japan needs to possess strike capabilities.

A source involved in drafting the recommendations said the purpose is to allow the SDF to “play a role in a U.S. military attack,” a departure from the long-held “exclusively defense-oriented policy” based on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

The exclusively defense-oriented policy has limited Japan’s defensive capabilities, both by degree and equipment, to the minimum necessary.

But the recommendations suggested what counts as minimum works on a sliding scale.

“The specific limitation of the minimum necessary self-defense capacity will be determined depending on how the government looks at it on the grounds of various conditions, such as the international climate and scientific technologies, and under the idea of an exclusively defense-oriented policy.”

(This article was written by Naoki Matsuyama and Ryo Aibara.)

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