Japan launches special team to revise collective self-defense relevant laws

The Japanese government has launched a special team under the National Security Secretariat to prepare relevant legislation for exercising the collective self-defense right following the Cabinet's decision the previous day to lift the ban on it, local media reported Wednesday.

"The team, launched immediately after the Cabinet decision, consists of about 30 members," deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters at a press conference, adding that Nobushige Takamizawa and Nobukatsu Kanehara, both assistant chief secretaries of the Cabinet will lead the team.

Japan's Cabinet formally lifted the self-imposed ban on collective self defense by reinterpreting the pacifist Constitution on Tuesday. The risky move, which enables Japan to take military action to defend other countries even though the country itself is not under attack, triggered violent opposition both at home and abroad.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking for an early preparation of the legal framework to enable the Self-Defense Forces to come to the defense of Japan's allies under armed attack, as the current laws are legislated under the condition that Japan' s collective self-defense right is banned.

The hawkish leader's administration is considering preparing more than 10 relevant bills, with the revised ones to be submitted to parliament in October.