Japan needs to debate whether or not to go nuclear, says LDP policy chief

Japan needs to discuss whether it should go nuclear in response to North Korea's declared nuclear test, Shoichi Nakagawa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, said Sunday. He said the Constitution does not rule out the option of Japan possessing nuclear arms.

While stressing that Japan should maintain its three-point nonnuclear principles of not possessing, not producing and not allowing the entry of nuclear weapons into the country, Nakagawa said, "There could be an argument that possession of nuclear weapons diminishes the likelihood of being attacked as we could fight back in such an event. We need to have thorough discussions on whether there is a need to review the nonnuclear principles."