05 May 2017

News Story: S.Korean media harshly criticizes Abe's attempt to revise pacifist constitution

SEOUL, May 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean media outlets on Thursday harshly criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to revise the so-called pacifist constitution, demanding a complete renunciation of war.

As Japan marked the 70th anniversary of its constitution on Wednesday, Abe said he planned to amend the constitution by 2020 to make clear the status of its military, known as Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

The constitution was enacted in 1947 by the United States to force Japan to fully renounce war, as the militarist Japan waged the Pacific War and committed numerous war crimes against humanity.

Abe's attempts to revise the pacifist constitution was denounced by South Korean media as an attempt to make Japan a county capable of waging a war on the poor excuse of rising security threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Kookmin Ilbo newspaper described the Abe cabinet as extreme rightists who dream of creating a country capable of waging a war without repentance over its World War II atrocities.

The newspaper said the SDF "pretended to be a military" though the forces have no right to attack any country but only right to defend itself.

Japan has recently sent two naval destroyers to join the exercises with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in waters off the Korean Peninsula.

Read the full story at Xinhua