Tokyo (AsiaNews/JCW) – The National Christian Council in Japan has expressed "concern and strong protest" about North Korea's nuclear test on 9 October. However it also "called on the Japanese government and the international community to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis and the total abolition of nuclear weapons."

The council, an ecumenical institution that gathers Japanese Christians of all denominations, made this call in a statement published last week. The statement said: "Based on our long history of crying 'No' to the use, possession or building of nuclear weapons, we call anew for a commitment to the denuclearization of East Asia and the whole world. Our aim is to realize the total abolition of nuclear weapons as soon as possible."

The council "observes that the Bush administration has changed its foreign policy from one based on dialogue to one that puts its emphasis on pressure" and hence it "expressed concern that the administration may choose a military option. We call on the Japanese government to persuade Washington not to use such methods but to seek a peaceful solution."

Sr Haruko Ishikawa of the Catholic Council on Justice and Peace said the bishops were also preparing a statement. She said the Japanese Episcopal conference "has continually petitioned all countries, including the United States and Europe, to end all nuclear testing. Also, with regard to the problems between Japan and Korea, it has called on the governments to find a solution through dialogue, not force, with strict observance of the three non-nuclear principles of Japan."

The "three non-nuclear principles" (refusal to build or possess nuclear arms or to introduce them in the country) were solemnly undertaken by the Japanese Diet in 1971 in a political statement, but they were never enshrined in the law.