TOKYO—Japan's military, long constrained by the nation's postwar pacifist constitution, moved toward gaining the freedom to strike enemy targets abroad if an attack is anticipated.
Tokyo is preparing a new basic defense policy framework under hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and recommendations for that framework compiled Thursday by ruling party lawmakers called for building the capability to attack an enemy's strategic bases for self-defense purposes.
Such a step would allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces to launch a pre-emptive missile strike at an enemy's military target when an imminent attack on Japan from that specific site is confirmed, officials for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said.
Specifically, such a step assumes possible missile attacks from North Korea, which has been stepping up its nuclear and missile threats against targets in Japan and South Korea and U.S. bases in the region.
"We have just gone through a period when people in Japan felt extreme anxiety about national security," Yasuhide Nakayama, a lawmaker who heads the LDP's National Defense Division responsible for the recommendations, said in an interview Thursday. In addition to North Korea's missile program, he cited China's intrusions into territorial waters around contested East China Sea islands. "We believe we need to rebalance our basic policy."
The adoption of a first-strike doctrine would mean a significant shift in the responsibility for the SDF, whose role is strictly confined by the constitution to activities construed as "self defense." Mr. Abe, known for his hawkish foreign policy stances, sees constitutional revision as a top goal of his government—and, short of outright revision, has advocated military policies that would stretch conventional interpretations of postwar constitutional restrictions.
Soon after the LDP returned to power in December after three years in opposition, the government said it would publish by the end of 2013 a new National Defense Program Guideline, the most basic policy statement that determines the course of the nation's defense strategies for the medium- to long-term, or up to 10 years. While the guideline will eventually be packaged by the defense ministry under the leadership of the prime minister, the ruling party's recommendations this week carry significant weight. Mr. Abe is eager to revise the guideline even though the current ones are less than two years old, as they were compiled by the previous administration run by a rival party.
Mr. Nakayama said there are three challenges Japan faces as it starts developing a capability for attacking enemy bases abroad. It must make significant investment in research and development for weapons technology, as Japan now has only those designed for more strict self-defense purposes. It needs to clarify legal implications of such a move, including the possibility of adjusting the official interpretation of the constitution. Finally, it must gain the understanding of neighboring Asian nations that are nervous about Japan's military revival.
"Through diplomatic steps, we need to give careful and thorough explanation that we are talking about attacks strictly for the purpose of self defense," he said.
Other key LDP's recommendations for the new guideline include beefing up of cybersecurity, as well as the creation of amphibious forces for island defense within the military that would have similar capabilities to the U.S. Marine Corps.