The Korean Odyssey

*The Rising Sun Flag flying above a Japanese warship. @iStock   Il Young Jeong Research Professor_Institute of Social Sciences_Sogang University On December 16th, 2022, the Kishida Cabinet revised Japan’s national security strategy and effectively neutralized Japan’s long-standing ‘defense-only’ policy to act only in response to an attack by an enemy, a principle that has been maintained since World War II. Rather than revising Japan’s Peace Constitution, the Japanese government played a trick. Yet, the Korean government’s response to this maneuver has been vague at best. This article investigates and criticizes the Korean government's lukewarm response to Japan’s tricky switch away from its defense-only policy.   How Revising Three Security Documents Rocked the Foundation of Japan's Peace Constitution? On December 16, the Japanese government called an extraordinary cabinet meeting during which it revised and approved three major security documents, including a documen...