Japan should debate going nuclear-ruling party MP

TOKYO, Oct 15 (Reuters) Japan needs to discuss whether it should possess nuclear weapons in response to North Korea's claimed nuclear test, the ruling party's policy chief said today.

Shoichi Nakagawa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Policy Research Council, said he believed Japan would adhere to its policy of not arming itself with nuclear weapons, but added that debate over whether to go nuclear was necessary.

''We need to find a way to prevent Japan from coming under attack,'' Nakagawa told a television programme, referring to what Tokyo should do following North Korea's reported nuclear test.

''There is argument that nuclear weapons are one such option.

I want to make clear that I am not the one saying this, and Japan will stick to its non-nuclear principles, but we need to have active discussions,'' he said.

Nakagawa also said that the constitution does not prohibit the possession of nuclear arms, adding that having such weapons may reduce or remove the risk of being attacked.

While some analysts have pointed out the possibility of Japan -- the only nation to suffer an atomic bombing -- seeking nuclear weapons in response to North Korea's announced test, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has flatly rejected the idea.

And victims of the 1945 atomic bombing on Hiroshima by the United States condemned Nakagawa's remarks.

''I question and I feel indignation towards such comments made by someone in such a responsible position,'' said Sunao Tsuboi, co-chairperson of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.

''As an A-bomb victim, I cannot comprehend the idea of possessing nuclear weapons ... To think that because the other side did it, we can, is just so frivolous,'' said the 81-year-old Tsuboi, who still has burns suffered from the bombing of his hometown 51 years ago.

Japan has stuck to its self-imposed ''three principles'' that ban the possession, production and import of nuclear arms, and politicians who even questioned the ban in the past have faced fierce criticism.

A former parliamentary vice defence minister resigned in 1999 after suggesting in a magazine interview that parliament should debate nuclear arms.

But faced with the threat of North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, the nuclear taboo is easing among the public and more lawmakers now challenge the ban without receiving the disapproval they would have in the past.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to impose financial and weapons sanctions on North Korea in response to its announcement tomorrow that it had successfully conducted a nuclear test.

REUTERS SY KP1826