By Tim Kelly and John Geddie
TOKYO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Japan reaffirmed its decades-old pledge never to possess nuclear weapons on Friday after local media reported that a senior security official suggested the country should acquire them to deter potential aggressors.
The unnamed official said Japan needed nuclear weapons because of a worsening security environment but acknowledged that such a move would be politically difficult, public broadcaster NHK and other outlets reported, describing the official as being
from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's office.
At a regular press briefing in Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Japan's nuclear policy had not changed, but declined to comment on the remarks or to say whether the person would remain in government.
There is a growing political and public willingness in Japan to loosen its three non-nuclear principles not to possess, develop or allow nuclear weapons, a Reuters investigation published in August found.
This is driven in part by doubts over the reliability of U.S. security guarantees under President Donald Trump and growing threats from nuclear-armed China, Russia and North Korea.
Japan hosts the largest overseas concentration of U.S. military forces and has maintained a security alliance with Washington for decades.
Some lawmakers within Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party have said the United States should be allowed to bring nuclear weapons into Japan on submarines or other platforms to reinforce deterrence.
Takaichi last month stirred debate on her own stance by declining to say whether there would be any changes to the three principles when her administration formulates a new defence strategy next year.
"Putting these trial balloons out creates an opportunity to start to build consensus around the direction to move on changes in security policy," said Stephen Nagy, professor at the department of politics and international studies at the International Christian University in Tokyo.
Beijing's assertiveness and growing missile cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang are "creating the momentum to really change Japan's thinking about security," he added.
Discussions about acquiring or hosting nuclear weapons are highly sensitive in the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, and risk unsettling neighbouring countries, including China.
Ties between Tokyo and Beijing worsened last month after Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan that also threatened Japan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" and trigger a military response.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly and John Geddie; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
