North Korea regularly threatens Japan and its allies with lurid language of nuclear attacks and storms of fire. Because Russia, China, and North Korea may perceive a lack of U.S. commitment, Japan needs an iron-clad nuclear deterrent force. Once Japan goes nuclear, China and North Korea cannot attack without factoring in the risk of a devastating nuclear counter-blow. Some argue that a nuclear Japan will increase pressure on the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). In fact, Japan’s going nuclear might decrease the probability of these countries going nuclear because they would feel safer with Japan’s new nuclear check on China.

Source: Forbes January 31, 2017 16:18 UTC