US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reassured Japan today that Washington would stand by a commitment to protect its Asian ally, trying to temper concerns of an Asian nuclear arms race after North Korea's atomic test.
"The United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range, and I underscore full range, of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan," Ms Rice told a news conference in Tokyo, the first stop on a quick tour of North Asia.
The United States is worried Japan and South Korea might embark on an arms race in response to North Korea building a nuclear arsenal - a scenario US Vice President Dick Cheney warned of two years ago.
"That is why it is extremely important to go out and reaffirm, and reaffirm strongly, US defence commitments to Japan and to South Korea," Ms Rice told reporters travelling with her.
"The vice president was right, something like this has the potential (of creating an arms race) but we have a lot of means to prevent that from happening."
Ms Rice will head from Japan to Seoul and Beijing, seeking a unified stance on UN sanctions slapped on Pyongyang for its underground test of a nuclear device on October 9th.
She arrived in Tokyo as intelligence experts warned that satellites had spotted a pick-up in activity at the North's suspected test site, suggesting a second blast may be imminent.
Japan, a traditional target of Pyongyang's animosity, has seen debate increase over whether to acquire nuclear arms.
But Foreign Minister Taro Aso reiterated Tokyo had "absolutely no intentions now of preparing to possess nuclear weapons".
"There is no need to have nuclear weapons as the Japan-US security framework will be activated for the defence of Japan," he said.
"And Secretary Rice has just reconfirmed that."
Japan, the only country to have suffered from the effects of nuclear bombing, has long forsworn nuclear weapons.