Tokyo’s passage of contentious new security laws has raised concerns in South Korea about how Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) would respond during a contingency on the Korean Peninsula.

The moves have caused consternation because of Japan’s history of military aggression. The South, which claims the entire peninsula as its territory, insists that Tokyo should receive permission before entering the peninsula to protect Japanese nationals.

At least one Japanese security expert is seeking to assuage South Koreans’ concerns.

Narushige Michishita, a professor at Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, argues that the laws will enable Japan to help Washington and