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Tokyo: The policy chief of the Japanese ruling party renewed his calls for a debate over whether Japan should acquire nuclear weapons capability, in the face of nuclear threat from North Korea. “The main goal is to stop North Korea's outrageous acts,” Shoichi Nakagawa, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, told a press conference in Washington, where he was visiting.
“As a form of deterrence, one can argue nuclear an option. We must discuss all options to ensure that Japan would not come under nuclear attacks,” he said.
Nakagawa, a close ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has argued that Japan should not shy away from discussing the nuclear option, long regarded as taboo in Japan, the world's only nation to come under nuclear attack at the end of the World War II.
Abe, known for his passionate support of a larger military role for Japan, has ruled out developing nuclear weapons and promised not to carry out such discussion in the government and in his ruling party.
But Nakagawa's remarks, originally made shortly after North Korea's nuclear test this month, have triggered a debate on the issue, with Foreign Minister Taro Aso echoing the sentiment.
US officials, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have said there is no need for Japan to arm itself with nuclear weapons, with the long-standing US commitment to provide security for Japan.
