South Korea urged the United States and Japan Tuesday to assure the security of South Korea in implementing the U.S-Japan defense guidelines, which expand Japan's military role abroad against possible threats from China and North Korea.
 

"The government expects the U.S. and Japan to continue close consultations with South Korea on issues related to the security of the Korean Peninsula and our national interests," Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said in a statement. 
 

It would enable Japan to use military force to help the U.S. and other allies if they come under attack.
  

South Korea is concerned about any Japanese military presence on the Korean Peninsula to help U.S. forces should there be a North Korean provocation, without Seoul's consent. South Korea still has bitter memories of Japan's colonization of Korea from 1910-1945.  
  

Seoul expressed support for the agreement itself, saying it clarifies "full respect" for a third country's sovereignty when Tokyo exercises the right to "collective self-defense."
  

The deal came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe embarked on a weeklong trip to the U.S. He is scheduled to hold summit talks with President Barack Obama in Washington on Tuesday (local time), followed by a speech at a joint session of Congress a day later.
  

The revised defense rules show the Washington-Tokyo alliance has entered a new stage, while Seoul-Tokyo ties remain mired in territorial and historical disputes.
  

South Korean officials acknowledge the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance in regional security, but they have doubts over Abe's view of history. There is widespread speculation that the conservative leader may be drawing Japan back to its militaristic past.
  

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Seoul and Tokyo are not competing against each other in terms of their alliances with Washington.
  

"The South Korea-U.S. alliance and the U.S.-Japan alliance are not a zero-sum game," he told reporters earlier this month. "The two are mutually beneficial when it comes to regional security."
  

Experts here, however, voiced concern that South Korea may be marginalized. (Yonhap)