Advertisement
Japan
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Japan’s overworked defence ministry plans first new bureau since 2007

The ‘long overdue’ move is expected to boost the defence ministry’s capacity to work more closely with allies and ease operational strain

3-MIN READ3-MIN
Listen
Members of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces and US Marines during a joint live-fire drill as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita prefecture, Japan, on June 28. Photo: Reuters
Maria Siow
Japan’s move to establish a new bureau to boost defence cooperation with allies is part of Tokyo’s wider policy to deepen deterrence against China, analysts say, adding that the internal reform was also long overdue for the government.

The new unit will be under the defence ministry to oversee international coordination with like-minded countries, according to government and political sources cited by local media earlier this month.

The move is said to be aimed at strengthening the ministry’s capacity to work more closely with allies amid what Tokyo sees as an increasingly challenging security environment.

Local reports cited “military threats” from North Korea, Russia and China as the basis for Japan’s urgency to “strengthen cooperation with countries in Southeast Asia and Europe in order to maintain deterrence”.

The planned bureau is expected to handle the transfer of defence equipment to partner countries and negotiate agreements between Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) and foreign militaries.

In a proposal submitted in June to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s research commission on security said: “The policy challenges the defence ministry must address have continued to increase, and the current structure is clearly insufficient.”
Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x