The argument posed in the April 9 AP article "Japan has real reasons to fret about North Korean nukes" does not hold up to scrutiny.
First, North Korea has spent huge amounts of time and money on its nuclear program at the expense of the well-being of its own citizens. Considering the North Korean military has no expeditionary capability, it would be wasteful to use such weapons against Japan, because the attack could never be followed up with boots on the ground.
Second, Japan is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Any nuclear attack on Japanese territory will be met with an overwhelming retaliatory strike. According to Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute, "the North Korean leadership is evil, not stupid." And unlike stateless terrorists who are motivated by religious zeal, the ruling elites "want their virgins in this world, not the next."
The best way to decrease tensions on the Korean Peninsula is to remove the 28,000 U.S. troops from South Korea. China will act to support the Kim Jong Un regime so long as the possibility exists that a united Korea will be a pro-U.S. Korea.
Americans would never accept the idea of 28,000 Chinese soldiers stationed in Tijuana, Mexico, so why should the U.S. expect China to give up its only buffer between it and the foreign policy instruments of a country with a history of forcing "regime change"?
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.