Japan plans to enact a law authorizing the Self-Defense Forces to help military allies other than the United States during international conflicts, an outline of the legislation shows.

The sought-after law, which would be designed for permanent use to dispense with the need to draft temporary laws on a mission-by-mission basis, would replace the currently vague law governing contingencies "in areas surrounding Japan." The current law is designed to deal with an emergency on the Korean Peninsula and assumes the extension of Japanese assistance to U.S. forces.

The proposed replacement, which would be able to be applied to any international conflict, would allow the SDF to help Australian forces, for example, in the event of a military emergency on the Korean Peninsula.