Questions of whether South Sudan is in a state of war or if the cease-fire there is still holding pose a test for the legality of the decision by the Abe administration Tuesday to extend the Self-Defense Forces' peacekeeping operations there until next March.
With the Cabinet's approval, a Ground Self-Defense Force unit based in Aomori Prefecture will deploy to the strife-torn African country's capital of Juba sometime in November to replace the current unit that has been engaged in engineering operations as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The five-month extension comes as the Abe administration is mulling whether to expand the SDF's mission parameters to include kaketsuke keigo, or coming to the aid of other nations' peacekeeping troops and civilians under fire, as well as jointly guarding base camps with U.N. peacekeeping troops. Both require levels of military force beyond just self-defense.