Japan, “Do not Rule out Military Response”

As a non-aggression treaty has become a subject of discussion, the Japanese government asked the U.S. counterpart not to rule out the possibility of military action against North Korea, the Tokyo Shinbun reported Thursday.

If the U.S. rules out the possibility of attacks against North Korea through documents, even if North Korea invades Japan, Japan will have find difficulty counter the attacks due to the U.S.-Japan security treaty

However, if the possibility of aggression remains, it is clear that North Korea would consider it as `hostile actions` and tensions are likely to escalate over issues of guaranteeing nonaggression among the countries to participate multilateral talks.

The U.S. has suggested that if North Korea declares to give up its nuclear ambitions, the U.S. could guarantee non-aggression on documents.

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com