Image source: topwar.ru
In the United States, a discussion was held on the issue of substantive military partnership with Japan. American officials, after consulting with partners from Tokyo, "came to the conclusion that the threat from North Korea is growing." Washington said that the North Korean leader's rhetoric "has become tougher" and that "Kim Jong-un threatens to use nuclear weapons."
In this regard, following the negotiations, a consensus was reached in the sense that the United States intends to "defend Japan", including with the help of their existing arsenal of nuclear weapons. This was announced after negotiations between employees of the military and foreign ministries of the two countries.
Declaring their readiness to engage nuclear forces "to protect Japan," American officials refer to article 5 of the Treaty on Mutual Cooperation and Security Guarantees. The article says that if someone carries out an attack on one of the two countries, then the other side, respectively, will perceive it and actually as an attack on itself.
The US State Department said that the US armed forces in this case "have the right to use their nuclear weapons in an attack by a third force on Japan."
In fact, we may be talking about additional measures to deploy American nuclear weapons (at least tactical) on the Japanese islands.
Recall that Japan has been virtually under the occupation of American troops for decades. Several US military bases are located on the territory of this country at once. Numerous protests by local residents against the American military presence usually end in nothing, and often criminal cases against the protesters themselves.
