On Nagasaki Anniversary, North Korea Threat Tests Japan’s Nuclear Taboo

 

As North Korea and the United States increase rhetoric¹ on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, long-held taboos² are being broken in neighboring Japan – the only country to have suffered nuclear bombardment, at the end of World War II.

Analysts⁴ say the debate over whether Tokyo should develop nuclear weapons of its own is moving from the far right fringes to the political mainstream⁵.

A Japanese Defense⁶ Ministry⁷ White Paper this week echoed reported concerns within the U.S. intelligence community, that Pyongyang has achieved the key final step of miniaturizing nuclear warheads – enabling it to deliver atomic bombs.

Former Japanese Defense Ministry adviser⁸ Narushige Michishita, now an analyst³ at Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, says the country would have minimal⁹ warning in the event of a nuclear missile launch.

“It’s quite likely even that North Korea can attack Tokyo with nuclear weapons today. And so if missiles are launched, it will reach Japan within 10 minutes," said Michishita. "From the time we detect the missile until the time it impacts on Japanese territory, we would have six or seven minutes.”

North Korea is believed by some observers to have more than 200 so-called "No Dong" missiles capable of carrying warheads that put Japan well within range. An attack on a crowded city like Tokyo would put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.

Japan’s constitution allows military action only in self-defense. Some lawmakers want that definition extended to allow Japan to acquire preemptive strike capabilities¹⁰ to counter North Korea.

Hawkish¹¹ conservatives go further, among them Finance Minister Taro¹² Aso. He has argued that Japan should keep open the option of developing nuclear weapons as a deterrent¹³. The country already has a large stockpile of nuclear fuel from its civilian¹⁴ power program.

The issue is openly debated in South Korea. But polls show just five percent of Japanese want their country to be a nuclear power.

Security analyst Kuni Miyake, with Tokyo’s Canon Institute of Global Affairs, said, “We face the threat from North Korea. But it doesn't mean we will react with nuclear weapons. I don’t think we will go nuclear in the foreseeable future. Even if South Korea might go, we will be the last.”

Narushige Michishita questions whether nuclear weapons would offer Tokyo diplomatic leverage¹⁵.

“If we possess nuclear weapons and say we would retaliate¹⁶ if North Korea used nuclear weapons against us, is it credible¹⁷? I don’t think so. And North Korea is not trying to attack us with nuclear weapons. They would be threatening us to do so in order to prevent us from assisting South Korea. That’s their objective," said Michishita.

This week marked the anniversary of the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings, which killed hundreds of thousands of people. The commemorations were clouded by renewed fears of war on the Korean peninsula.

“There still are nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Tension is mounting when it comes to the international situation surrounding nuclear weapons. Strong fears are spreading that nuclear weapons may be used in the not-so-distant future,” Nagasaki Mayor Taue Tomihisa said in a speech Wednesday to mark the 72nd anniversary of the city’s destruction.

At the same ceremony, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated¹⁸ the country’s long-held position: “Here in Nagasaki, a city that continues to pray for perpetual peace, I reaffirm my commitment to realizing a peaceful world without nuclear weapons."

Some analysts question whether that commitment would be tested if Japan came under attack. For now, the likelihood of Japan acquiring nuclear weapons appears remote.

1 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

2 taboos   

禁忌( taboo的名词复数 )； 忌讳； 戒律； 禁忌的事物（或行为）

参考例句：

• She was unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos. 她被藩蓠、法律及外来的戒律赶下了马。
• His mind was charged with taboos. 他头脑里忌讳很多。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

10 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

12 taro   

n.芋，芋头

参考例句：

• Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
• You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。

13 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

14 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

15 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

16 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

17 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

18 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。