Japan Rejects Development of Fully Autonomous Lethal Weapons

The Japanese government has adopted a policy against the development of fully autonomous lethal weapons, stressing that their use should never be allowed globally.

The Foreign Ministry submitted a paper to the United Nations in May outlining Japan's stance on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). The paper advocates a "human-centric" principle and the responsible use of emerging technologies, according to a senior ministry official.

"Human involvement is required, as it is humans who can be held accountable under international humanitarian laws," the ministry stated in the paper, which was publicised on its website in June.

Japan does not believe there are sufficient assurances that LAWS will comply with international humanitarian laws and does not intend to develop such weapons, the ministry added.

The paper did note some potential benefits of autonomous arms, such as reducing human error and addressing manpower shortages, particularly as the Japan Self-Defense Forces face recruitment challenges.

Tokyo defined LAWS as systems that "once activated, can identify, select and engage targets with lethal force without further intervention by an operator."

Global concerns over autonomous weapons are mounting, with momentum for regulation building as combat drones become common in conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war and in the Middle East.

"Artificial intelligence weapons used to be a fictitious topic, but now they have become a reality, and more people are recognising the need to address the issue seriously," another Foreign Ministry official said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to release a report on LAWS this summer after gathering global opinions, the official added.

In December, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution highlighting "the urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems."

Japan, the United States and 150 other nations voted in favour of the resolution, while Russia, India, Belarus and Mali voted against it. Eleven members, including China, North Korea and Israel, abstained.