The South Korean parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a resolution Friday denouncing Japan’s moves to expand the role of its military.

Earlier this month, Tokyo adopted a new interpretation of its constitution to exercise the right to collective self-defense, empowering Japan to fight alongside an ally even if the country itself is not attacked.

The move has caused concern in South Korea as it could lead to Japanese troops moving on to Korea in the name of helping its ally, the United States, in the event of war on the divided peninsula.

“The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea sternly warns that Japan’s decision to allow the exercise of its right to collective self-defense will be a serious factor for peace and stability in Northeast Asia and strongly condemn it as a diplomatically provocative act,” said the resolution adopted unanimously by the parliamentary foreign affairs and unification committee.

Relations between South Korea and Japan have been highly strained in recent years over Tokyo’s increasingly aggressive moves to review its militaristic past, including its 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)