Former PM Says Japan Considered Going Nuclear
Fri Jun 18, 2004 07:55 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone once ordered defense officials to look into developing a nuclear capability for Japan, the only nation to be attacked with an atomic bomb, Kyodo news agency said Friday.
Japan has long adhered to three principles banning the possession, production and import of nuclear arms, and any hint at abandoning those -- or even merely discussing them -- has long spelled trouble for politicians.
Nakasone, prime minister from 1982 to 1987, was quoted as saying in his memoirs due out next week that as defense minister in 1970 he had asked military experts to investigate the cost and time needed for Japan to develop and deploy nuclear weapons.
The report gave no reason for his request.
The experts estimated Japan could attain a nuclear capability in five years at a cost of 200 billion yen, but that it would be impossible for Japan to develop nuclear weapons without a testing ground, Nakasone was quoted by Kyodo as saying.
"I have always opposed (Japan having) nuclear weapons," said Nakasone, long known for his hawkish views.
"However, the talk would be completely different if the United States removed its nuclear umbrella," he said. "Japan would have to consider many possibilities, including nuclear weapons."
Nakasone, a former lieutenant in the Imperial Navy and a member of parliament until last year, is among politicians who believe Japan should build up its military and alter its pacifist constitution to give the army a bigger role in defending the country and in regional security.
The taboo on discussing nuclear weapons has eased slightly in Japan after the outbreak of a crisis involving North Korean's nuclear ambitions in late 2002, and some countries believe Japan could be swift to follow if Pyongyang declared a nuclear capability.
But Yasuo Fukuda, who was Chief Cabinet Secretary until he was forced to quit last month, set off a furor two years ago when he told reporters that Japan might review the ban on nuclear arms.
In 1999, parliamentary Vice Defense Minister Shingo Nishimura resigned after suggesting parliament should debate nuclear arms.
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