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Koizumi vows to work for nuclear pacifism

P. S. Suryanarayana

Hiroshima victims of nuclear weapon remembered

SINGAPORE: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Saturday reaffirmed his country's adherence to the policy of nuclear pacifism, as the 60th anniversary of the American bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic weapon was observed there.

Mr. Koizumi, who participated in the solemn function that was held in memory of the victims of the world's first-ever use of a nuclear weapon, pledged commitment to Japan's "pacifist Constitution" too.

The three principles of Tokyo's policy of nuclear pacifism are the non-production of atomic weapons, non-possession of such devices and the non-placement of nuclear weapons on Japanese territory. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which was drafted by the U.S. after the end of the Second World War, forbids Tokyo from exercising the sovereign right of declaring war in the "national interest" and from participating in collective-security operations of an international kind.

Japan's recent action of sending troops for humanitarian work in aid of the U.S. forces in Iraq, under a legislative measure, has already redefined Article 9 for all practical purposes.

Mr. Koizumi's reported pledge of adherence to the Constitution acquires importance as a result of the ongoing public debate in Japan on a possible reform of the basic statute itself.

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