Today, Friday, Japan revealed an unprecedented defense policy since World War II that includes allocating $320 billion to strengthen its military capabilities and supply missiles capable of hitting China, while its neighbor, South Korea, protested against a clause in the new defense policy related to disputed islands between the two countries.

The Japanese government approved the largest legal amendments of its kind to the defense strategy since the end of World War II in 1945, and the new defense policy document describes neighboring China as an unprecedented strategic challenge, and the document describes Russia as a source of concern for Japanese national security.

Japan first published its National Security Strategy in 2013.

The new amendments include the right of Japanese forces to launch "counter-strikes" against countries it considers hostile, but Tokyo restricted the implementation of these counter-strikes to 3 conditions:

  • An inevitable threat to Japan or a friendly country that leads to an inevitable threat to Japan.

  • Is there no other way to avoid blows that are considered hostile.

  • The response should be as minimal as possible.

The strategy states that Japan's current capabilities to shoot down potential missiles before they fall on the country's territory are not effective enough, but any pre-emptive strike on an enemy country "cannot be permitted" under the constitution, according to the same document.

defense budget

The amendments also provide for doubling the defense budget over the next five years to constitute 2% of the gross domestic product, thus exceeding the 1% defense spending ceiling adopted by Japan since 1976.


The budget of the Ministry of Defense will increase in the next five years to approximately $80 billion, which is equivalent to 10% of total government spending, which will make the country the second largest defense spending in the world after the United States and China, depending on the current budget figures for these countries.

Within Japan's new defense strategy, $5.6 billion has been allocated for a 5-year joint program with Britain and Italy to develop a new jet fighter aircraft.

It is the first time that Japan has cooperated with countries other than the United States on a major defense equipment project.

The new defense policy document stipulates that defense should be the main focus of strengthening military power, and that the goal is never for Japan to become a military state.

In a separate document on Japan's national security strategy, Tokyo said it would strengthen its cooperation with the United States and other like-minded countries in order to confront threats to the existing world order.

Triple threat

The same document says that "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a gross violation of the laws prohibiting the use of force and a blow to the foundations of the world order."

And the Japanese national security strategy document believes that China poses a major strategic challenge to the country, adding that Beijing has not ruled out the use of military force to tighten control on the self-governing island of Taiwan.

And on North Korea, the National Security Strategy refers to "Pyongyang's military actions pose a "serious and imminent threat to Japan today more than ever," in reference to the repeated missile tests carried out by Japan's neighbor.

Japan's national security strategy document specifies that China poses a major strategic challenge to the country, adding that Beijing has not ruled out the use of military force to tighten control over the island of Taiwan.

With this new defense strategy, Japan ends decades of adopting a policy of peaceful coexistence and a commitment not to have a military force, a policy adopted by Tokyo because of its past in World War II, and the devastation it caused in the world.

South Korea

However, South Korea protested against what came in the new Japanese national security strategy regarding disputed islands between Tokyo and Seoul, which are called Dokdo to the South Koreans, and Takeshima to the Japanese.

In a statement issued today, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested that Japan immediately remove from the National Defense Strategy document its claims that the islands are part of its territory, and the ministry considered that what was stated in that document regarding the islands does not help build a partnership between the two countries based on a future view. .

In the United States, President Joe Biden said that his country stands by "Japan at this critical moment, and our alliance is essential in the Indian and Pacific Ocean region." The White House considered that Japan's new defense plan aims to strengthen the military alliance with the United States.