Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has a mission she can't screw up when she visits the South Sudanese capital of Juba starting Friday.
She needs to meticulously assess the security situation there and possibly show that conditions are stable enough for Self-Defense Forces troops to persevere with their U.N. peacekeeping assignment without breaking Japanese law.
Inada's visit comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet is mulling whether to give the SDF new roles that allow troops to use firearms beyond pure self-defense, a move that was considered unconstitutional until new security legislation came into effect in March.
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