(OT) Japanese Government Gives 10,000 Cartridges for Rifles to South Korean Army Deployed in South Sudan, Citizens Cry Foul

(UPDATE 12/24/2013) Japan's opposition parties are accusing the Abe government of having given 10,000 cartridges to the Korean Army, in violation of Japan's arm export principle (that it does not export arms), according to Kyodo News (12/24/2013).

10,000 cartridges to fight the rebels? Good luck.

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Japan's Self Defense Force is part of the UN peacekeeping operation (it's a Newspeak, now I think about it) in South Sudan, where the US government is sending the Marines.

The South Korean troops ran out of ammunition in the volatile country, and Japan's SDF is the only one who uses the same 5.56-millimeter rifles.

The Abe administration used the newly created National Security Council to rapidly approve the UN request, and from what comes to my Twitter, net citizens are very upset that Japan has broken the self-imposed ban of arms exports, though this is not strictly an "export".

From Jiji Press English (12/24/2013):

(Update 3) Japan Provides Ammunition to S. Korean PKO Force in S. Sudan

Tokyo, Dec. 23 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government, in an unprecedented move Monday, provided rifle ammunition to South Korean troops participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations in South Sudan through the Unites Nations.

The decision to give for free the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's 10,000 cartridges for 5.56-millimeter rifles was made at emergency four- and nine-minister meetings of the Japanese National Security Council and given the round-robin cabinet go-ahead earlier in the day, in response to a joint request on Sunday from the South Korean peacekeeping force and the U.N. Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS.

Among peacekeeping troops in South Sudan, only Japanese and South Korean peacekeepers use 5.56-millimeter rifles, government officials said, adding the ammunition assistance is an exception to Japan's rules effectively banning arms exports because it is a matter of "high urgency and humane concern."

On late Monday night, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga issued a comment saying the ammunition supplies are not subject to the rules because the rounds will be used only to protect the South Korean peacekeepers and evacuees and their transfer to parties other than the UNMISS is strictly limited.

This is the first time for Japan to supply ammunition to a foreign force via the United Nations under the country's PKO cooperation law.

Tom Lehrer: Send the Marines

When someone makes a move
Of which we don't approve,
Who is it that always intervenes?
UN and OAS, they have their place I guess
But first, send the Marines!

We'll send them all we've got,
John Wayne and Randolph Scott.
Remember those exciting fighting scenes?
To the shores of Tripoli,
But not to Mississipoli,
What do we do?
We send the Marines!

For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
Till somebody we like
Can be elected

Members of the corps,
All they hate the thought of war
They'd rather kill them all by peaceful means
Stop calling it aggression,
Ooo we hate that expression

We only want the world to know
That we support status quo
They love us everywhere we go,
So when in doubt,

Send the Marines!

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