Abe may push for reform before end of the year

TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to accelerate plans to amend Japan's pacifist constitution, saying he expects to submit a proposed revision to lawmakers before the end of the year, media reported on Sunday.

Abe said in a speech in Kobe city on Saturday he planned to submit a proposal for the first amendment of Japan's post-World War II constitution during an extraordinary session of parliament that will be convened later this year, Japan's main daily newspapers reported.

Abe has proposed amending the constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 by 2020 to officially recognize Japan's Self-Defense Forces as its military.

Such a change could draw fire from China and South Korea, where bitter memories of Japan's past military aggression persist. They would likely see the change as a step toward the re-emergence of Japan as a military power.

Abe would need to win the support of two-thirds of members of both houses of parliament and a majority of votes in a referendum.

Reuters