Tokyo: Democratic Party of Japan president Yukio Hatoyama, who is set to become prime minister next week has said that his administration will look into a purported secret Japan-US pact allowing US military vessels carrying nuclear weapons to stop over in Japan.
"We want to reveal the facts to the public" when an investigation has confirmed them, Hatoyama said yesterday.
The Japanese government has denied the existence of such a pact that would contradict the country`s non-nuclear principles of not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear weapons on its territory. But several former government officials have made comments hinting at the existence of such a pact.
Hatoyama intends to seek cooperation from the US administration in carrying out an investigation, which would likely be conducted both in Japan and the United States, according to DPJ sources.
They added Hatoyama may convey the plan to US President Barack Obama in a meeting expected later this month in New York.
Earlier in the day, Hatoyama told Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii that the new government will carry out the investigation, according to DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada who was at the meeting.
Bureau Report
