US warned Japan of N. Korean contingency during 1994 crisis, archives show

TOKYO – In February 1994, US Secretary of State Warren Christopher informed Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa of the need to prepare for a contingency due to North Korea’s nuclear development, according to a diplomatic document declassified by Japan on Dec 24.

A month later, in talks with South Korea, North Korea threatened that if a war broke out, Seoul would be engulfed by a “sea of fire”.

Pyongyang had refused to accept inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and pursued “brinkmanship diplomacy”, sparking tensions with the administration of US President Bill Clinton.

Mr Christopher’s warning came during a Clinton-Hosokawa summit meeting over lunch in Washington on Feb 11, 1994.

In a recent interview with Kyodo News, Mr Hosokawa, now 87, revealed that after his return from the United States, he instructed Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobuo Ishihara to “immediately consider” Japan’s response.

Mr Ishihara, who died in 2023, had said Mr Clinton told Mr Hosokawa at the time that Washington was considering a naval blockade around North Korea as part of US economic sanctions, and asked if Japan could help remove naval mines that might be laid by the isolated state.

According to the document released by Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Mr Christopher explained that Pyongyang may not agree to IAEA safeguards regarding nuclear inspections while referring to the need to be prepared for a contingency.

The Secretary of State then stressed that Japan’s cooperation would be extremely important if sanctions were to be imposed.

Mr Hosokawa expressed concern that an extremely dangerous situation could arise if North Korea were to combine its development of nuclear weapons with the Nodong medium-range ballistic missile launched into the Sea of Japan in 1993.

Mr Hosokawa then said if economic sanctions are imposed, Japan will take the best possible action responsibly within the scope of domestic law.

In a separate document on his meeting with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Mr Hosokawa said: “It would be difficult for the Self-Defence Forces to participate directly in a naval blockade, but we would of course provide support to the US military.”

At the time, the Japanese government began to consider what kind of support it could provide to the US military but faced the restrictions of the Constitution and laws, eventually leading to revisions of the Japan-US defence cooperation guidelines and related legislative measures.

In October 1994, the US and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework, under which Pyongyang promised to freeze its nuclear programme in return for aid, three months after the death of North Korea’s founder and first leader Kim Il Sung.

The deal also required Pyongyang to eventually dismantle its weapons-grade nuclear facilities in exchange for being provided with two light-water reactors for power generation. KYODO NEWS