S.Korea's Ban concerned about Japan nuclear debate http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyid=2006-11-06T090600Z_01_T301506_RTRUKOT_0_TEXT0.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L1-RelatedNews-1
Mon Nov 6, 2006
TOKYO (Reuters) - South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon expressed concern on Monday about recent comments by Japanese politicians that the country should hold a debate on acquiring nuclear weapons in response to North Korea's nuclear test last month.
Ban, who takes over as United Nations secretary-general in January, said Japan should instead make efforts through the six-party talks process to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs.
"I would like to express my concern not just as the foreign minister of South Korea, but also as the next U.N. secretary-general," Ban told a news conference when asked about the comments by some key Japanese lawmakers. "Japan is one of the most important members of the U.N. and a key nation in Northeast Asia," Ban said. "In many ways, it would do no good for Japan's future."
Japanese ruling party policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa said last month that Japan needed to discuss whether it should possess nuclear arms, setting off a controversial debate in the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly stated that Japan would stick to its decades-old ban on nuclear weapons and has denied that the government would even discuss the topic.
But Nakagawa has stuck to his comments and Foreign Minister Taro Aso has also said there was no need to rule out debate, drawing criticism from the opposition and ruling party members that the comments would further heighten regional tension.
"It is not desirable to carry on political debate," Ban said, adding that Japan should make efforts to urge North Korea to give up nuclear development through the six-party talks which also bring together South Korea, China, the United States and Russia.
North Korea agreed last week to return to the negotiating table after staying away for a year, with the parties trying to hold the next round by the end of the year at the latest.
The Japanese public has been highly sensitive to the nuclear issue because of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, but some analysts say Japan's nuclear "allergy" has weakened in view of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Analysts also say Japan is capable of producing nuclear weapons with its high technology and a stockpile of plutonium from its nuclear power plants, but they add that it is highly unlikely to do so, given domestic and international opposition.
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