Japan to Create Defense Ministry

Amid growing security concerns among its people, especially after neighboring North Korea's nuclear test, Japan will almost certainly enact bills soon to upgrade the status of the Defense Agency to a ministry more than five decades after its inception.

To be sure, upgrading the Defense Agency may be more symbolic than substantive. Nonetheless, it is significant because the agency has so far been kept in a relatively low-profile position under the nation's postwar pacifist constitution.

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Defense Ministry Launched​

Japan's Defense Agency, established in 1954, has been upgraded to a full ministry.

On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed Defense Agency chief Fumio Kyuma as Defense Minister. At a Cabinet meeting, Mr Kyuma asked his fellow ministers for cooperation in the activities of the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces.

A ceremony was held later at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tokyo to mark the upgrade.

In a speech to senior ministry officials and Self-Defense Forces, Prime Minister Abe said the upgrade is a major step for Japan to pull itself out of the post-World War Two framework and aim at building a new nation.

He asked the officials to work hard so that Japan can continue to appreciate peace and prosperity.

Defense Minister Kyuma also delivered a speech, and instructed the officials to actively engage in policy-making so that the ministry can win the trust of the Japanese people.

The Defense Ministry can now draw up policies and request budgets like other ministries. It is also aiming to make proposals on national security strategy.

Overseas operations of the Self-Defense Forces have been redefined as a main duty rather than a minor one, as in the past.

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