Ishiba Vows to Mull Japan's Participation in Nuke Ban Treaty Conference

Tokyo, Oct. 13 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday that the government will seriously consider participating as an observer in a conference of signatories to the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

"We'll seriously consider" the matter, Ishiba, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said in a televised debate with leaders from eight other political parties.

The debate took place ahead of Tuesday's start of the official campaign period for the Oct. 27 election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of parliament.

The discussion came after the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, a group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors, was named this year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Ishiba said there is a proposal from Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, for Japan's participation in the conference as an observer. "I don't intend to ignore it," he said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]