Japan reaffirms no-nukes pledge after senior official suggests acquiring weapons

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…