TOKYO: Maintaining and strengthening the nuclear deterrent power of the United States is a "pragmatic and appropriate" option for Japan's defense, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday.

The comment came after visiting Pope Francis called for abolishing nuclear weapons, in the atomic-bombed cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima on Sunday.

The pope's call for nuclear abolition was "important for accurately conveying the damage of atomic bombing to international society," Suga said.

But "under the Japan-U.S. security alliance system, maintaining and strengthening the United States' deterrent power, including nuclear deterrence, is a pragmatic and appropriate idea for our country's defense," he also said.

Regarding the U.N. nuclear ban treaty, on which Pope Francis places importance, Suga suggested a negative stance on ratification by Japan. "As the treaty was made without appropriately taking into account the reality of national security, it has failed to gain support not only from nuclear countries but also from nonnuclear nations," he said.

JIJI Press