US ready to offer Japan 'full range' of deterrence

"The US has the will and the capability to meet the full range, and I underscore, full range of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan," Rice told reporters after talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

"I want to make sure that everybody understands that the US will fully act on our defense obligations under the mutual defense treaty," Rice said.

Her remarks came amid calls in Japan for debate on the long-taboo option of developing nuclear weapons after North Korea said last week it had tested its first-ever atom bomb.

Aso reaffirmed that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government had no plans to go nuclear.

"Now as the government we are in no position to make arrangements for nuclear weapons," Aso said.

"Secretary Rice told me that, under the Japan-US security treaty, the US commitment to defend Japan is maintained under all circumstances," Aso said.

Japan's foreign minister told Rice yesterday that the world must not close the door on diplomacy with North Korea, an official said.

Japan has strongly backed the US push to enforce sanctions on North Korea, which last week said it tested its first atom bomb.

But Aso, meeting with Rice at the start of her four-nation tour of North Korea's neighbors, said that diplomacy remained the goal.

"The objective is not sanctions in themselves -- it's an end to its nuclear program," Aso told Rice, as quoted by a Japanese foreign ministry official present at the talks.

"So we should keep open the window of dialogue and call for the unconditional resumption of six-party talks," Aso was quoted as saying.