JAPAN: Okada does not rule out introduction of nuclear weapons in emergency

Mar 16 11:21 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO, March 17 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Wednesday did not rule out the possibility that nuclear weapons may be brought into Japan by U.S. forces in a defense emergency in the future, while reiterating that the current government would stick to Japan's three non-nuclear principles.

"In a case in which Japan's security cannot be protected unless we accept temporary port calls by U.S. ships carrying nuclear weapons, the government at that time would make a decision even if it may affect its political fortunes," Okada told a parliamentary committee.

The issue of introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan has drawn renewed attention after a recent investigation conducted by a Foreign Ministry panel acknowledged that "a tacit agreement" was reached between Japan and the United States in the Cold War era which led Tokyo to allow U.S. nuclear-armed vessels to visit Japanese ports.

The move revealed that Japan's non-nuclear principles of not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear weapons on its territory were a mere facade.

But in 1991, after the Cold War ended, U.S. President George W. Bush announced he would withdraw tactical nuclear weapons from U.S. vessels, making the secret pact with Japan obsolete.

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