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Minister quits

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Japanese Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma on Tuesday resigned, citing his failure to carry conviction with the people, especially those in his home constituency of Nagasaki, that the U.S. action of ending the World War II by dropping atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki “could not have been helped”. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accepted the resignation and appointed Special Adviser on National Security Yuriko Koike to succeed Mr. Fumio Kyuma. As Japan’s first Defence Minister under the country’s U.S.-ordered pacifist constitution, Mr. Fumio Kyuma has been speaking his mind out on several issues. He criticised United States President George W. Bush for his war in Iraq, and told The Hindu her e recently that “no military alliance” was being envisioned among the United States, India, Japan and Australia, despite their increasing defence-related cooperation. His comment last Saturday on the atomic weapons sparked public outrage across Japan.

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