Five years ago, the military in communist North Korea fired a medium-range Rodong-1 missile which splashed down into the Sea of Japan, demonstrating that parts of western Japan are within range of the Scud-type missile which can travel an estimated 600 miles.
North Korea does not have nuclear weapons, but Japan, still haunted by the horror of the atomic bombs which laid waste to the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945, now faces a future in which a nuclear arms race in Asia could enable North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons with the help of its ally, Pakistan. This is also a worst-case scenario for South Korea which is still in a state of war with North Korea.
With this terrifying prospect in mind, Japan yesterday proposed that nuclear non-proliferation be discussed at an emergency session of the world's nine major powers. Japan, also concerned that the blasts by India and Pakistan will tempt the Chinese to increase their nuclear arsenal, suspended its aid and investment programmes in both countries.
For the moment the Chinese are refusing to condemn Pakistan - an official newspaper yesterday criticised the G8 nations for a weak response to India's nuclear blasts which signalled to Pakistan that atomic tests were "nothing extraordinary". However, it was reported yesterday that Chinese President Jiang Zemin, at the personal urging of President Clinton, wrote a letter to the Pakistan government several days ago asking it not to carry out nuclear tests.
Japanese officials said they believed Pyongyang supplied Pakistan with 12 long-range Rodong-2 missiles in recent years, which could prompt Pakistan to return the favour by transferring nuclear weapons technology. The Rodong2 is a similar version of the Rodong-1 and has a range of 900 miles.
North Korea has denied developing nuclear weapons, but insisted it has the right to develop and deploy missiles. Japan's Foreign Minister, Mr Keizo Obuchi, said Tokyo would work closely with the United States and its allies to prevent North Korea developing a nuclear capacity. North Korea agreed in 1994 to scrap its graphite-based nuclear power plants in favour of lightwater reactors supplied by the US-led Korean Peninsula Energy Development consortium that are less suitable for producing weapons-grade plutonium. But recently North Korea accused the United States of not living up to the terms of the deal and the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, told South Korea and Japan this month that North Korea might restart a nuclear weapons programme if it was not provided with fuel oil and nuclear power technology as agreed. The US ambassador to Japan, Mr Tom Foley, said North Korea "remains the most serious potential threat to regional peace" and that the US would co-operate with Japan. The chairman of Pakistan's Senate foreign relations committee compared India's "expansionist ambitions" to those of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and said it had its eyes on the wealth of the Middle East. Senator Akram Zaki told a news conference at UN headquarters in New York that if it was in Pakistan's national interest to conduct further nuclear tests, it would do so.