Military history of Japan maintains a powerful defense force today, its Constitution, originally drawn under the guidelines of General Douglas MacArthur in 1945, formally renounces war and the use of military force in aggressive ways. Japan also maintains a policy against the exporting of military hardware. In September 2015, the Liberal Democratic Party under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reinterpreted the Constitution, allowing Japan to use military force in assistance of its allies. The legality of these changes has been questioned by many academics and citizens. From 1867, Japan requested various Western military missions in order to help Japan to modernize its
Japan–South Korea relations GSOMIA is automatically extended unless either of countries wants it to be demolished. In August 2017, South Korea and Japan decided to renew the agreement. Shinzo Abe, to increase its military profile in the region. Since Lee Myung-bak's visit to the Liancourt Rocks and repeated demands for the emperor to apologize again in 2012, the Japanese public's image of South Korea deteriorated significantly. Japanese tourists to South Korea declined by half from 3.5 million in 2012 to 1.8 million in 2015 while South Korean tourists doubled from 2 million in 2012 to 4 million in 2015. The Diplomatic Blue Book