Koizumi to pitch for permanent Security Council seat

Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he will make a pitch to get Japan a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly next month, in a turnaround from his earlier reluctance to seek permanent council membership.

"I would like to mention the Japanese plan that there could be a permanent member different from the P-5 and that is Japan," Koizumi told reporters at his office, referring to the current five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Koizumi had previously been cautious about seeking permanent membership on the Security Council, citing concerns that Japan is unable to play a full role as a permanent member in the security field due to the country's war-renouncing Constitution.

However, Koizumi said Tuesday that Japan would play a role different from the existing permanent members that he defined as nuclear powers and "countries that do not rule out the use of force as means to settle international conflicts."

The premier also indicated that the issue of whether to revise the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution would not be immediately linked to Japan's quest for permanent Security Council membership.

"A permanent Security Council member that is different from the existing ones is acceptable," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier this month that Japan needs to review the war-renouncing article if it wants to become a permanent member of the Security Council.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Japan will pursue permanent Security Council membership under the existing Constitution and that it has confirmation from Washington that Powell's comments are not conditions for the United States to support Japan's bid.

''Our position has been consistent. We want to take on greater responsibility as a permanent Security Council member within the bounds of the Constitution,'' Hosoda, the top government spokesman, told a press conference.

Koizumi, however, acknowledged that Japan has a lot of work to do to get a permanent Security Council seat, saying, ''The chances are there, but it is a difficult issue.''

The premier is planning to visit New York and attend the U.N. General Assembly in late September after a trip to Brazil and Mexico.

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi expressed Japan's resolve over the issue, saying, ''It will be difficult unless it is done now.''

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima suggested Koizumi's awareness that Japan has been contributing to various international causes has prompted him to push for permanent Security Council membership.

The contributions include Japan's dispatch of Ground Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq for humanitarian reconstruction work, Takashima told a news conference.

Source: Kyodo News