With the Ground Self-Defense Force troops in South Sudan scheduled to arrive back in Japan on May 27, experts have called for the government to thoroughly review Japan's peacekeeping mission there amid debate over whether it was in line with the nation's principle of only sending troops to places with an ongoing cease-fire.
Three experts — Kyoji Yanagisawa, a former high-ranking Defense Ministry official; Kenji Isezaki, a professor of international relations at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies; and Akira Kato, professor of international politics at J.F. Oberlin University — said Tokyo should closely examine whether Japan properly assessed the local security situation in South Sudan and fully understood the U.N. legal framework under which a peacekeeping unit operates. Fierce clashes in Juba last July left at least 300 people dead, forcing Japanese civilians and diplomats to evacuate.
They were speaking on Wednesday at a round-table discussion in the Diet members' office building to which lawmakers were invited. Members of the ruling coalition were absent from the meeting.
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