TOKYO: Reports of spy ships and last week’s fatal clash with an alleged North Korean vessel around Japanese territorial waters are threatening to change Japan’s much-touted image of a pacifist nation. Experts say the unprecedented attack implies far-reaching consequences on the domestic front and is bound to raise questions about Japan’s relations with East Asia.

The attack has also brought into the spotlight the language and spirit of Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution, which restricts the use of force by the military and coast guard to self-defence. The constitution further states that the country’s troops should be kept within Japanese territory.

Osaka University professor Yasuhiko Yoshida expresses similar concern. “Japan should have been careful given historical enmity with its closest Asian neighbours,” he says.

According to Hitoshi Takase, a Japanese specialist on North Korea, spy ships have often been used to transport stimulant drugs for the past few years and the sunken ship had probably left North Korea’s Namho port, southwest of Pusan, bound for Kyushu. Japan’s tough reaction follows a new law passed in November that authorizes patrol boats to shoot at suspicious ships in Japanese territorial waters, though not in foreign territory.

Such tough measures, in fact, have won the backing of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He is unequivocal in his call for Japan to have tougher self-defence laws, underscoring his plan for an expanded role for Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF). For some experts, the latest development should enable smooth passage of legislation being prepared by the government to allow the SDF participate in future UN peacekeeping missions.

Japan’s coast guard has been attacked by China and North Korea after the November law was passed. Comments from South Korea indicate the rise of a new wariness against their former colonizer who is now a rich and powerful neighbour.

Some commentators expect a clearer picture about the attacked ship’s mission to emerge on Monday, when autopsies of the men on board will be conducted in Japan. Authorities want to determine if the men on the ship committed suicide to avoid capture, a practice that North Korean intelligence has pursued in the past. —Dawn/InterPress Service.