Japan, US have secret nuke deal: Report

Japan: Japan and the United States had a secret deal to tacitly allow U.S. forces to bring nuclear weapons into the nation, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Tuesday.

Ryohei Murata, a former Foreign Ministry administrative vice minister, told the newspaper that Japanese and U.S. governments have had a secret accord whereby Japan would tacitly approve port calls and passage through Japanese territorial waters by U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons.

Murata, 79, who served in the position from July 1987 to August 1989, said the accord was reached in 1960, when the two countries renewed the bilateral security treaty.

Although the Japanese government has continued to officially deny the existence of such an accord, the latest revelation marks the first time a former administrative vice foreign minister has gone on record as saying such a deal has existed.

During the negotiations over the bilateral treaty, Japan and the United States agreed to discuss in advance if U.S. forces would be bringing nuclear weapons into Japanese territory as a matter of “important changes in equipment.”

Tokyo, Tuesday, AFP