The top uniformed officer in the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) said he does not view the term "combat," used in a daily report compiled in July last year by a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) unit stationed in South Sudan for U.N. peacekeeping operations (PKO), as a problem.
"Whether the situation constitutes a violation of five principles of Japan participating in peacekeeping operations is something that is judged at the government level. We'll make judgment regardless of whether local troops use the term 'clash' or 'combat,'" Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of the SDF Joint Staff, told a news conference on Feb. 9.
If combat occurred, it could lead the government to withdraw SDF personnel from U.N. peacekeeping operations under the five principles of Japan's participation in such missions.
Kawano apologized over the fact that the SDF found electronic data of the July 11 and 12, 2016 daily reports on Dec. 26 last year, but reported the discovery to Defense Minister Tomomi Inada only a month later. "As soon as we found the reports, we should've notified the defense minister," he said.
The chief of the Joint Staff said he was informed on Jan. 25 of the discovery of the electronic data of the reports.
The data was found after the Defense Ministry said it had discarded the reports in response to an information disclosure request.
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