Japan, S. Korea to 'co-host' PKO in Timor

Japan, S. Korea to 'co-host' PKO in Timor

Yoichi Funabashi, The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo

A contingent of 680 Self-Defense Forces (SDF) members will
leave this month for East Timor to engage in peacekeeping
operations (PKO). The accompanying machinery of 300 trucks and
bulldozers will be used to build roads and bridges.

East Timor, with a population of 800,000, will become
independent on May 20. It will go down in history as the first
territory to establish independence in the 21st century. Since
its establishment in 1999, the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) has been assisting with
nation-building efforts. About 8,000 UN workers are engaged in a
range of activities, such as maintaining law and order, ensuring
means of transportation and overseeing construction projects.

They will remain after independence to support the new
government. Japanese PKO troops are also scheduled to stay for
two years, working in shifts of six months. Seven women are among
the force. They are specialists in interpretation, medicine and
communications, among other things. It is the first time for
women to take part in Japanese PKO activities.

The SDF personnel will be dispatched to four locations, one of
them the enclave of Okusi in West Timor where 121 troops will be
stationed.

An infantry division dispatched by the Republic of Korea
(South Korea) is in charge of keeping the peace in Okusi. SDF
troops will provide logistical support for the South Koreans.
Their first job will be to build prefab accommodation while
living in tents. The South Koreans have offered to let the
advance party share their lodging.

Two of the SDF members will serve as interpreters. The rest
have already undergone intensive Korean language lessons to
master basic conversation. South Korea will also provide Japanese
interpreters. When Japan and South Korea are co-hosting World Cup
soccer in their respective countries, it would be fair to say
that in Okusi, the two nations will also be "cohosting" the PKO.

Lt. Col. Mitsunori Habu, 42, commander of the 4th company to
be dispatched to Okusi, said: "Since we will be stationed at the
national border, the work is psychologically stressful. Our main
job is to repair roads needed for the activities of the South
Korean troops. Initially, I expect we will have to partially rely
on their support."

The purpose of participating in UN-sponsored PKO activities is
for Japan to contribute to making itself useful in working for
peace and stability, as befitting a responsible nation. Working
with people from other countries in an environment of
multilateral cooperation is a marvelous opportunity to advance
mutual understanding and trust and acquire an international
sense. The PKO efforts "co-sponsored" by Japan and South Korea
should be seen in this light.

As Defense Agency Director-General Gen. Nakatani put it, "The
people who take part in PKO activities are far more mature when
they return home." The same logic applies to the SDF and Japan as
a whole.

Previously, dispatching troops for overseas peacekeeping
operations tended to trigger anxieties that Japan could be
dragged into war. Other countries, most notably China and South
Korea, worried that the deployment of SDF troops could lead to a
revival of Japanese militarism. These fears proved to be
groundless.

Meanwhile, public understanding and support gradually grew and
now nearly 80 percent of the population supports the SDF's
participation in PKO activities. The deployment this time around
is welcomed by East Timor and surrounding countries.

The government should take advantage of this situation and
deal with the following issues in order to become more
"mature."

First, it should incorporate the activities of nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) into the PKO program. A number of Japanese
NGOs have been active in East Timor for some time. The
Organization for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement
(OISCA) provides agricultural training; the Adventist Development
and Relief Agency (ADRA) Japan deals with distributing
infrastructure; and the Services for the Health in Asian and
African Region (SHARE) is concerned with health care and hygiene.
Japanese NGOs are not the only ones that are active there.

When ADRA Japan built two markets in eastern and western Dili,
it relied on PKO workers from Bangladesh to do the groundwork.
Since PKO activities concern nation building at a wide range of
levels, there are many areas that require NGOs and PKO workers to
work side by side. How they can cooperate with each other needs
to be studied.

Second, based on its experience in PKO duties in East Timor,
Japan should advance active PKO diplomacy in the United Nations.

In the last decade, PKO activities under United Nations
auspices faced mounds of problems. Although things went well in
Cambodia, Mozambique and El Salvador, the outcome was disastrous
in Somalia, Bosnia and Rwanda. When nations were embroiled in
ethnic and religious conflicts, PKO activities that were set up
in the name of "neutrality" and "symbolism" had been baffled. In
the rush to establish peace in Somalia and Bosnia, PKO personnel
forcibly intervened and failed miserably. But in Rwanda's case,
no country sent troops and the result was genocide. Like Kosovo
and East Timor, it has become customary for multinational forces
to first step in and secure peace before dispatching UN PKO
troops.

Increasingly, Japanese PKO activities have encountered
problems, such as the nature of the PKO duties themselves and
when to allow use of force. These are the very same issues that
face today's UN PKO activities in general. What is the right way
to carry out PKO activities? We need to redefine and reinforce
the PKO program. When Japan has its presence felt in PKO
operations, it will be able to express a greater say in
diplomacy.