Japan Tells IAEA It Will Not Seek Nuclear Weapons

Japan pledged today to the International Atomic Energy Agency today that it would not develop nuclear weapons, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Nov. 30).

“Japan has been working to strengthen nonproliferation and disarmament efforts and there is no change in our three-point non-nuclear policy,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Tokyo.

The policy forbids Japan from producing or stockpiling nuclear weapons, and from allowing other countries to base such weapons within its borders.  Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who met yesterday with ElBaradei, has led calls for debate on the policy (Agence France-Presse/Channel NewsAsia, Dec. 1).

ElBaradei said he saw no problem with discussion of the issue, given North Korea’s recent nuclear test, the Associated Press reported.

“I think it is legitimate for any country to discuss the implications on its security when a country in the region has developed nuclear weapons,” he said. 

“I don’t think Japan in any way is trying to move to [becoming] a nuclear weapons state.  That has been affirmed by the prime minister,” ElBaradei added (Kana Inagaki, Associated Press/Globe and Mail, Dec. 1).

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