In a rather obvious response to the North Korean nuclear program, Japan has announced that it has the capability to produce nuclear weapons:
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has the technological know-how to produce a nuclear weapon but has no immediate plans to do so, the foreign minister said Thursday, several weeks after communist North Korea carried out a nuclear test.
Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who has called for discussion of Japan’s non-nuclear policy, also asserted that the pacifist constitution does not forbid possession of the bomb.
“Japan is capable of producing nuclear weapons,” Aso told a parliamentary committee on security issues. “But we are not saying we have plans to possess nuclear weapons.”
Japan, the only country ever attacked by atomic weapons, has for decades espoused a strict policy of not possessing, developing or allowing the introduction of nuclear bombs on its territory.
In fact, Japan’s constitution has a provision forbidding the use of force to settle international disputes. However, that isn’t necessarily a barrier to possessing defensive nuclear weapons:
“Possession of minimum level of arms for defense is not prohibited under the Article 9 of the Constitution,” Aso said. “Even nuclear weapons, if there are any that fall within that limit, they are not prohibited.”
If North Korea does go nuclear and Japan responds, things in Asia could start getting interesting.
