Japan Self-Defense Forces and Coast Guard Conduct First Joint Exercise Under Defense Minister's Command Following 'Control Guidelines'

On the 22nd, Japan's Ministry of Defense announced that the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Japan Coast Guard conducted their first joint exercise assuming a situation of armed attack directly targeting Japan.

Yasukazu Hamada, Japanese Minister of Defense / Photo by Yonhap News

This is the first joint exercise since the Minister of Defense established the "control guidelines" in April to command the Minister of the Japan Coast Guard, who belongs to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, in case of emergency.

The exercise, held in the sea east of Izu Oshima, Tokyo, involved the Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ship Yamagiri, patrol helicopter (SH-60K), and the Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel Sagami.

The Ministry of Defense explained, "In the event of an armed attack, the Japan Coast Guard was placed under the control of the Minister of Defense, and the exercise assumed resident evacuation, provision of ship information, and evacuation support."

According to the control guidelines, the Minister of Defense directly commands only the Minister of the Japan Coast Guard, who is responsible for Coast Guard operations. The Self-Defense Forces focus on defending Japanese territory, while the Japan Coast Guard handles non-military activities such as resident evacuation and rescue.

Until now, the Self-Defense Forces and the Japan Coast Guard have conducted joint exercises based on pre-armed attack scenarios, such as responding to suspicious vessels.

In December last year, the Japanese government revised the National Security Strategy, a diplomatic and security policy guideline, significantly enhancing the capabilities of the Japan Coast Guard and including provisions to "continuously strengthen cooperation between the Japan Coast Guard and the Self-Defense Forces, including control by the Minister of Defense in emergencies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.