The following is from Yasunosuke Kudan's serial column, which appeared on the front page of the monthly magazine Hanada on the 26th.
This article is also a must-read not only for Japanese citizens but also for people around the world.
U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Discusses Nuclear Sharing with Japan, South Korea, and Australia
In the early morning of May 30, South Korea's KBS reported the following:
 At a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee meeting, Republican senators mentioned the sharing of nuclear weapons with other countries and the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula. Recently, similar statements have been made by some Republicans and former President Trump's aides. In the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican Senator Roger Whitaker called for a $55 billion increase in the defense budget for the next fiscal year to respond to threats from Russia, China, and Iran. He stressed that there is no immediate solution to North Korea's nuclear missiles and that the U.S. deterrence on the Korean Peninsula must not be weakened. He argued that U.S. forces in South Korea should be strengthened and new options should be explored, including a nuclear sharing agreement in the Indo-Pacific and redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. He said that a dialogue should be initiated to see if South Korea, Japan, and Australia are willing to participate in a NATO-like nuclear responsibility-sharing agreement. Whitaker's views echo some Republicans and former President Trump's aides. Politico, an American (political) media outlet, predicted that Rep. Wicker would present his proposal to the Senate Armed Services Committee next month. However, since the White House and Republicans agreed last year on the range of defense budget increase at around I% of the previous year's level, the prevailing view is that a significant rise is difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, the U.S. political newspaper "THE HILL" reported that the Republicans will likely win the presidential election in November and the elections for both the upper and lower houses of Congress to be held simultaneously.
Wicker wrote in an op-ed for FOX News on May 15: In the early 1990s, the U.S. hoped that withdrawing tactical nuclear weapons from South Korea would induce North Korea to cease its nuclear weapons production. However, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and Pacific has deteriorated considerably since then. It is time to reconsider our nuclear forward deployment posture.
On the same day, Senator Jim Ritschl, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also stated, "It should not be taboo to explore the option of returning nuclear weapons to Cambodia and Asia.
KBS's online edition states, "Two leading U.S. Republican senators have asserted in succession that tactical nuclear weapons must be redeployed to South Korea to deter a nuclear threat from the North.
The statements of Senators Whitaker and Risch are attracting attention because their assertions may be reflected in actual policies if former Republican President Trump wins the U.S. presidential election this November."
KBS is not alone. South Korean newspapers have also reported extensively on the moves of these Republican lawmakers.
Unlike the Moon Jae-in administration, which has taken a conciliatory stance toward North Korea, the Yun Seok-yue administration has taken the opposite stance toward the North. During his visit to the U.S. last April, he issued the Washington Declaration after meeting with President Biden.
In addition to the establishment of a "Nuclear Consultative Group," the declaration included a call for more frequent deployment of U.S. nuclear submarines carrying nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula, which the South Korean media reported as "a de facto declaration of nuclear sharing.
At the time, a South Korean public opinion poll reported that 70% of respondents "want South Korea to have its nuclear weapons.
The panicked (?) The Democratic Party of Korea's Biden administration tried to put out the fire by saying, "We want you to believe in the effectiveness of the nuclear umbrella that the U.S. extends to South Korea," according to the undersecretary of state.
The excitement in South Korea, which had seemed to have died down, was reignited by the comments of two Republican senators.
The fire will grow even more vital as the possibility of "If Trump becomes president" grows.
The problem is Japan.
When the Trump administration returns to power, they will ask Japan if it is willing to share responsibility for nuclear deterrence like NATO.
Let me remind you.
Shinzo Abe said, "Japan should also discuss nuclear sharing" after Russia invaded Ukraine. In contrast, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, "The three non-nuclear principles are Japan's national policy. In contrast, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida brusquely dismissed Abe's proposal: "The three non-nuclear principles are Japan's national policy, and my cabinet will not even discuss them.
In the past, during the Cold War, West German Chancellor Adenauer requested nuclear sharing with the United States, and after repeated refusals, the request was granted.
Now, nuclear sharing has been extended to Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey in addition to Germany.
South Korea and Australia are sure to respond to the Trump administration's request with eager anticipation.
For Japan, too, this is the perfect opportunity to realize Abe's legacy.
Yet, the Kishida administration is doing nothing.
Is this really the right course of action?
2024/6/26 in Osaka
