The 1995 decision to indefinitely extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was made in anticipation of nuclear disarmament by the world's nuclear powers. That anticipation, however, has been blown off by the nuclear powers themselves.

　The widespread use of nuclear energy for power generation today has desensitized Northeast Asia to the proliferation of plutonium and nuclear technology. If this situation continues, the treaty will not only lose its centripetal force, but the Asia-Pacific region may also have to brace itself for some terrible eventuality beyond human control.

　Precisely because of this situation, now is the time for Japan to assert itself loud and clear as a non-nuclear nation. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Japanese the first human targets of nuclear attack in history. The memories must be kept alive permanently to be recounted to the rest of the world.

　Better yet, why not go one step further and try to create a multination nuclear-free zone in Northeast Asia, so that a move toward nuclear abolition will start from this region?

　Specifically, we are proposing that a set of international laws be put in place to ban the manufacture, possession and deployment of nuclear arms in the region.

　And it will not be as if we have to start from scratch. Japan already has its so-called three non-nuclear principles that cover Japanese territory, while the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) have their joint declaration, signed in 1992, for keeping the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free.

　This declaration and the Japanese non-nuclear principles should be combined into a treaty. Then, China and Russia should be urged to apply this treaty to their northeastern and far eastern regions, respectively. A step-by-step approach should be fine: Start with a ban on nonstrategic nuclear capabilities, and then expand the ban later.

　The United States called back its forward-deployed nonstrategic nuclear capabilities in 1991 and 1992, when it realized how costly and dangerous their forward deployment could be. The world should recognize this as a perfect opportunity to guarantee, under international laws, the creation of a nuclear-free zone covering Japan and the Korean Peninsula, and make the U.S. withdrawal of its forward-deployed nonstrategic nuclear capabilities a permanent thing.

　It is true that the world's nuclear nations still subscribe to the policy of deterrence under the nuclear umbrella. But even among people who believe in nuclear capabilities as a necessary evil, there are some who have begun arguing in favor of the nuclear-free zone concept−like heavy smokers preaching against smoking.

　Professor John Endicott of the Georgia Institute of Technology is one of these people. A retired colonel who was in the U.S. Air Force for 28 years, Endicott served in the Strategic Air Command and the Pacific Air Force Command, and was in charge of strategic nuclear warfare planning as a nuclear targeting officer at the Fifth Air Force headquarters at Fuchu, Tokyo.

　In 1991, Endicott conceived the idea of a nuclear-free Northeast Asia. Using his military contacts, he got in touch with former military officers of China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. He has been working together with them over the last eight years, organizing international conferences to discuss the nuclear-free zone concept.

　A conference held in Japan last October, which followed those in Beijing, Moscow and Helsinki, was attended by delegations from nine nations. Foreign affairs and defense officials from Japan, the United States, South Korea and Russia also participated as observers.

　During these conferences, nuclear nations invariably disagree with one another. Initially, Endicott envisioned a nuclear-free zone with a radius of 1,200 nautical miles. The truce village of Panmunjom on the Korean Peninsula was placed at the circle's center.

　But the Chinese opposed this plan fiercely, claiming this had to be a U.S. ploy to assume hegemony over the region; while the zone did not include any U.S. territory, 70 percent of nuclear capabilities deployed by China came within this zone.

　The map was then redrawn, with Alaska and Taiwan forming the opposite ends of an oval. It was also decided that for the time being, the ban would apply only to non-strategic nuclear capabilities.

　But the Chinese insisted that a no-first-use policy should come first, which the Russians and the Americans adamantly refused to accept.

　The question of verification remains a tough issue. But even so, China has been sending its delegation to every conference so far, as have the other nations.

　Endicott notes that when he embarked on his mission eight years ago, his initial purpose for creating the nuclear-free zone was to create an environment in which Japan would not be forced to arm itself with nuclear weapons. But now, he says, he has begun to think of the nuclear-free zone more as a "lever'' for building up a cooperative security system for Northeast Asia.