TOKYO: Japan's foreign minister Sunday hailed UN sanctions on North Korea and said the country should provide support for the US military in inspecting Pyongyang's ships, a major step for the pacifist country. Hours after the UN Security Council's unanimous resolution in response to North Korea's declared nuclear test, Aso said it was "only natural" for Japan to help prevent military shipments. "The resolution calls on countries to carry them out," Taro Aso said of inspections. "It is only natural to offer our cooperation."Japan has been officially pacifist since its World War II defeat and its help to US military operations has been confined to far-away Afghanistan and Iraq.
Under a 1999 law, Japan can provide fuel and other back-end support to US warships in "surrounding areas", but the measure has never been used.
Aso suggested Japan could take part actively in ship inspections. Asked whether Japan should limit itself to logistical support, Aso said: "I don't think so. It will depend on the situation." But such cooperation is set to be controversial both at home and abroad.
China, which has been trying to repair sour relations with Japan, has voiced reservations about inspections on North Korean ships even though it supported the unanimous UN resolution.
China, still bitter over Japan's past aggression in the region, had criticised Tokyo's groundbreaking military mission to Iraq.