TOKYO - Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said that Japan needs a debate on nuclear weapons, as some European countries are seeking greater nuclear deterrence.
Japan "cannot avoid touching" the issue, Koizumi said in an online program released Friday, apparently with the government's planned revision by the end of the year of three key national security documents in mind.
Koizumi cited France and Finland as pursuing policies that favor stronger nuclear deterrence.
Finland's parliament in June passed a bill that would allow nuclear weapons to be brought into the country, while French President Emmanuel Macron said in March that his country will increase the number of nuclear warheads.
Although Japan relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, it is the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack and maintains its three principles of not producing, possessing, or allowing nuclear weapons on its territory.
Koizumi said Japan's security environment has grown harsher and argued Japan needs to change a situation in which some topics are deemed unacceptable to debate.
In December last year, a source, who is involved in devising security policy under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government, said Japan should possess nuclear weapons, sparking backlash from opposition parties and some countries.
Former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera also said late last year that Japan needs to debate the future of its non-nuclear principles.
