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LequteMan
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The Japanese Defence Ministry said on Tuesday in Tokyo that it had supplied ammunition to South Korean troops serving in a U.N. peace keeping mission in South Sudan.
It says the move was another step in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s more assertive foreign policy and also to ease self-imposed constraints on its military.
It was reportedly in response to a U.N. request, when SDF engineering troops in South Sudan on the same operation supplied 10,000 rounds of ammunition to the South Koreans on Monday through the U.N. mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The Defence Ministry said it was the first time Japan was providing ammunition to another country.
Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary, said that the ammunition supply was exempt from the arms exports ban given its emergency and humanitarian nature.
"Ammunition that is in shortage is the same type as our country's troops have, and only our troops in the UNMISS mission have this type of ammunition in store.
"If we don't provide it for free, protection of the lives of the members of the South Korean troops and refugees are compromised," he added.
It says the move was another step in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s more assertive foreign policy and also to ease self-imposed constraints on its military.
It was reportedly in response to a U.N. request, when SDF engineering troops in South Sudan on the same operation supplied 10,000 rounds of ammunition to the South Koreans on Monday through the U.N. mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The Defence Ministry said it was the first time Japan was providing ammunition to another country.
Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary, said that the ammunition supply was exempt from the arms exports ban given its emergency and humanitarian nature.
"Ammunition that is in shortage is the same type as our country's troops have, and only our troops in the UNMISS mission have this type of ammunition in store.
"If we don't provide it for free, protection of the lives of the members of the South Korean troops and refugees are compromised," he added.
