Photo : YONHAP News
South Korea took a cautious stance after Shigeru Ishiba, newly elected leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party(LDP), made a controversial proposal to establish a collective security system resembling NATO in Asia.
In a contributing piece for the U.S think tank Hudson Institute last Friday, Ishiba called to establish a collective self-defense system like NATO in Asia to deter China and to prevent wars that could break out due to absence of obligation for mutual defense.
Referring to a potential nuclear alliance between North Korea, Russia and China, Ishiba said the Asian version of NATO must specifically consider U.S. sharing of nuclear weapons or the introduction of nuclear weapons into the region.
An official at Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the South Korean government is aware of the related information, but that there is no specific comment to be given in the current stage.
Amid concerns that his “Asian NATO” vision goes against Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution containing a “No war” clause, and Tokyo’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles, Ishiba seemingly took a step back following Friday’s election, saying it is not the time to give any specific time frame.