Rice promises to defend Japan from North Korea

Condoleezza Rice warned North Korea today that America would use the “full range” of its military powers if Pyongyang launched a nuclear strike on Japan.

As she arrived in Tokyo on the first leg of a mission to galvanise opposition to Kim Jong-il’s regime, Ms Rice made clear that America would protect its key regional ally against any threat following North Korea’s atomic test.

“I want to make sure that everybody understands that the US will fully act on our defence obligations under the mutual defence treaty,” said Ms Rice. “The United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range, and I underscore the full range, of its deterrence and security commitment to Japan.”

Ms Rice met the new Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe ahead of visits to South Korea, China and Russia. Her tour is intended to ensure co-ordinated action in the region over United Nations sanctions against North Korea.

Senior Japanese officials, including the foreign minister Taro Aso, had earlier suggested that Tokyo should consider a major policy reverse by acquiring its own nuclear weapons. Japan has long held an abhorrence of nuclear weapons, dating back to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War.