Ex-minister says Japan should get nukes

OBIHIRO, Japan, April 20 (UPI) -- Japan will never possess nuclear weapons, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura vowed Monday in response to a suggestion that it should.

''There is no doubt that we will continue firmly maintaining our policy of the three non-nuclear principles'' of not producing, possessing or allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese soil, Kawamura told a news conference. "Japan will never possess nuclear weapons.''

Former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Sunday, however, that Japan -- the only nation in the world to have had atom bombs dropped on it in war -- should debate the possibility, Kyodo news service reported.

Nakagawa said Pyongyang's rocket launch this month shows North Korea has "taken a step toward a system whereby it can shoot without prior notice." He said Japan needs to counter that threat with a nuclear deterrent, the Japanese news agency, said.

Nakagawa asserted North Korea has many Rodong medium-range missiles that could strike nearly any part of Japan, and that it also possesses small nuclear warheads.

"It is common sense worldwide that in pure military terms, nuclear counters nuclear," said Nakagawa, who resigned as finance minister in February after he appeared to be drunk at an international news conference in Rome, Kyodo said.