Japan ponders law banning foreigners buying land near to military sites

Japan has opened discussions on new laws that would prohibit foreign nationals or overseas companies from buying plots of land close to sensitive military installations.

Experts say the move is long overdue and "makes complete sense" given Japan's deteriorating relations with its immediate neighbours.

The debate has been triggered by a South Korean company buying a tract of land close to the Maritime Self-Defence Force base on Tsushima Island in Nagasaki prefecture in southern Japan. The island is a mere 50 kilometres from the coast of South Korea - a 90-minute ferry journey - and its strategic position and natural defences have long made it an important naval base for Japan.

Concerns over the sale of the land to the Korean firm have been further heightened after the city assembly of the South Korean town of Masan declared in 2005 that June 19 would be Daemado Day - the Korean name for the islands - and claimed sovereignty over the territory.

The declaration is clearly a tit-for-tat manoeuvre in the ongoing rival claims to the Dokdo islands, which are claimed by Japan but controlled by South Korea, but has aroused fears among many Japanese that more of the nation's outlying islands could be claimed and seized by covetous neighbours.

A special committee of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party tasked with monitoring security and land legislation has begun studying whether regulations are required to make sure that plots of land that are considered critical to Japan's national security are not sold to foreign entities.

"It is important to regularly obtain land registration data from legal affairs bureaus and to exercise caution and conduct adequate surveillance," Itsunori Onodera, the defence minister, told the committee, specifically citing the Tsushima Island case.