Okada wants more talks with U.S. as nuke disarmament proceeds+

TOKYO, Feb. 23 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Tuesday that Japan hopes to engage more in
talks with the United States on its nuclear strategy when discussions on
nuclear disarmament proceed beyond the reduction of strategic nuclear arms.
''Japan may have not been deeply involved, or may necessarily have not had to
be involved, in discussions on strategic nuclear arms between the United States
and Russia. But when the discussion goes to the next step, Japan should become
more involved in nuclear disarmament or nuclear policies,'' Okada told a press
conference.
''I think we have to create a structure between Japan and the United States in
which we can gain information on various nuclear issues and exchange
opinions,'' he added.
Talks between the United States and Russia on a successor agreement to the 1991
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I, are believed to be in the final
stage.
Okada also said he has no intention to express expectations on how the upcoming
U.S. new nuclear strategic guideline, or the ''Nuclear Posture Review,'' should
be.
''The NPR (to be issued in March) is something that should basically be
discussed within the U.S. government,'' Okada said.
Meanwhile, he noted the importance of maintaining nuclear deterrence and
working on nuclear disarmament at the same time, stressing it is ''a matter of
balance.''
As the world's only nation to have suffered atomic bombings, Japan maintains a
policy of not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of
nuclear weapons into the country. But Tokyo at the same time relies on U.S.
nuclear arms for security, a policy some argue is contradictory.
Okada said he is eager to convene an international conference on nuclear
disarmament in the latter half of this year following the Nuclear Security
Summit in Washington in April and other events, in hopes of ensuring momentum
toward a nuclear-free world.
==Kyodo