For the second time in a week, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has publicly mentioned South Korea's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines and said Japan should also be able to discuss taking similar steps.
 
Speaking at an upper house budget committee meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday, Koizumi argued that South Korea and Australia are set to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and that the United States and China already have them.

He said it is only natural to discuss a wide range of possibilities, including the advantages and disadvantages of introducing submarines powered by a next-generation energy source.
 
He also indicated that nuclear power should no longer be taboo, as the security environment around Japan has changed.
 
On November 6, Koizumi also complained on television that U.S. President Donald Trump had approved South Korea's construction of nuclear-powered submarines and noted that all surrounding countries have them.
 
He has repeatedly expressed his intention to keep nuclear-powered submarines on the table as a defensive option for Japan.
 
Meanwhile, Kyodo News reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara signaled openness to reconsidering the Three Non-Nuclear Principles of not possessing, not producing and not permitting nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.
 
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declined to answer questions about maintaining the Three Non-Nuclear Principles at a session of the lower house of Japan's parliament on Tuesday.

Takaichi has argued in the past that it is necessary to change the current policy that bans nuclear weapons with the United States' nuclear umbrella in mind.