Japan Sets Policy Against Fully Autonomous Lethal Weapons

The Japanese government has recently adopted a policy against the development of fully autonomous lethal weapons, emphasizing that such arms should never be allowed worldwide, Kyodo News reported.

Japan asserts that a "human-centric" principle should be maintained and emerging technologies need to be utilized "in a responsible manner."

The Foreign Ministry submitted a paper stating Japan's stance on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) to the United Nations (UN) in May.

The country asserts that a "human-centric" principle should be maintained and emerging technologies need to be utilized "in a responsible manner," according to a senior ministry official, Mainichi Shimbun also reported.

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

Japan believes that currently, there are no assurances that LAWS will be used in compliance with international humanitarian laws, and it "does not intend to develop" such weapons, the ministry added.

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