Debunking Japanese government denials, an official document from 1960 has been discovered at a U.S. library, showing that the two countries had a secret agreement concerning the use of U.S. military bases in Japan.
The full official U.S. document, discovered by a Japanese scholar in late February at the Gerald Ford Library at University of Michigan, shows Japan agreeing to allow the U.S. military to use its bases here for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula without consulting Tokyo.
While historians have long believed that the secret pact was made, Tokyo has insisted that was not the case.
In January 1960, when the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was revised, the two countries agreed that Washington would consult Tokyo before using U.S. bases in Japan for military action.
But the newly found document, dated June 23, 1960, shows that another agreement had been reached that was not made public.
The two-page document was signed by then Foreign Minister Aiichiro Fujiyama and Douglas MacArthur, then the U.S. ambassador to Japan.
The document covers statements made by Fujiyama and MacArthur during a preparatory meeting of the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee.
According to the document, Fujiyama said he had been "authorized" by then Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi to state Tokyo's view that: "As an exceptional measure in the event of an emergency resulting from an attack against the United Nations forces in Korea, facilities and areas in Japan may be used for such military combat operations as need be undertaken immediately by the U.S. armed forces in Japan."
On the same day the document was signed, Fujiyama and MacArthur exchanged ratification instruments on the 1960 Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in Tokyo.
Kishi then announced his resignation to calm public criticism over the revised treaty.
"The (secret) pact was apparently signed as a last-minute effort (by the Kishi administration) before Kishi announced his will to resign," said Mikio Haruna, professor of international journalism at Nagoya University's graduate school, who discovered the document.
The document was attached as a reference to memorandums on the management of U.S. bases in Japan in case of military emergencies in the Korean Peninsula. It was written during the last days of the administration of President Richard Nixon in 1974.
The document is believed to be part of transition briefing papers for the Ford administration.
The memorandums were declassified in March 2005. One memorandum explains that the secret pact authorizes the U.S. military to start military action from its bases in Japan without prior consultation with Tokyo in case of a Korean contingency.
The existence of the secret pact came to light in 2000 when it was referred to in State Department records kept at the National Archives in Washington.
At that time, then Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori vehemently said, "There is no secret pact at all surrounding the security treaty."
The government has since maintained that stance.
"The discussions between Japan and the United States at the time make it clear that, for the United States, the most significant purpose of its military presence in Japan was to deal with a Korean contingency," said Masaaki Gabe, professor of international politics at University of the Ryukyus.(IHT/Asahi: June 4,2008)
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
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