The Indo-Pacific 80 years on from the nuclear bombs on Japan
Ballistic missile launch from underwater (Image: iStock/Alexyz3d)
August 6 and 9 this year mark the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. Against this backdrop, Imperial Japan unconditionally surrendered, bringing an end to World War Two.
Eighty years later, eight countries besides the United States possess nuclear weapons, and due to rising tensions, diplomatic and armed conflicts have ensued over potential renewed proliferation.
In Japan itself, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still perceived negatively. A 2015 Pew Research Center poll found 79% of respondents believed it was not justified. This is in stark contrast to the view in America, where 56% say it was.
A factor in Japan was not just the destruction of the two cities, but the aftermath, in particular, radiation sickness. Fallout, a New York Times Bestseller by Lesley M.M. Blume, tells the story of reporter John Hersey, who exposed to the general public the horrors of the A-bomb, which is enshrined in decades of current Japanese pacifism.
Perception in China is not certain today, due to the authoritarian policies of the government in Beijing. According to Kaiser Kuo, the editor of The China Project, Chinese civilians he interviewed stated that the bombings were tragic, but necessary to end the war.
In North Korea, Japan is still considered a major enemy of the Kim regime due to past colonial horrors, while South Koreans have to some extent moved on. There, opinions vary, although the tendency is positive. This is despite the large number of Korean victims in the two cities, many of them slave laborers. A January 2023 article in the Journal of Preventive Medicine & Public Health said a study of the aftereffects on Koreans showed they suffered a range of health problems, such as cancer from radiation.
In a 2009 PubMed article titled “Imaginary Savior: the image of the nuclear bomb in Korea,” Kim Dong-won stated how South Koreans initially had a favorable view of the atomic bombings as they directly led to independence.
During the Korean War, perception continued to be positive as the United States noted the possibility of using nuclear weapons to deter North Korean and Chinese aggression, which former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reaffirmed in 2023.
During World War Two, Japan’s focus had been on territorial conquests in the Indo-Pacific, as the ruling elite of the Imperial administration sought to create a “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” The attempt at forceful assimilation led to brutal massacres that left longstanding scars in East Asia.
In the Philippines, for example, opinion about the use of nuclear weapons against Japan varies due to the generational trauma of Japanese occupation. In an article in the Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Hitoshi Nagai gives firsthand accounts of the brutality experienced at the hands of Japanese soldiers during the occupation. One Filipino, Jose P. Rocha, was quoted expressing frustration that while Hiroshima was given special status in global perception, more civilians were killed in Manila than in the atomic bombing.
China’s views over the bombings remain lukewarm for similar reasons. In the interwar period, millions of Chinese were killed in some of the most gruesome ways by Japanese troops in Nanking, Shanghai, and other cities. Atrocities included ghastly experimentation at Unit 731.
Koreans also suffered under Japanese colonial rule.
Not only did Imperial Japan forcibly use Koreans as slave laborers, but it also sexually abused hundreds of thousands of its citizens as part of the notorious comfort women battalions. Furthermore, the peaceful March 1st independence protest movement was violently cracked down upon by Japanese military units, with protestors facing torture and executions.
Modern Japan faces a crossroads amidst heightened tensions with various nuclear-armed powers. China has become more aggressive in the Indo-Pacific, North Korea has become more emboldened on the Korean Peninsula, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the domino effect of growing remilitarization amongst U.S. allies.
Although the U.S.-Japanese Alliance remains intact, cracks between the mutual defense partners have begun to show. The Trump Administration has made several misconceptions about the mutual defense pact, especially given Japan’s American-written constitution, which has limited Japanese military growth. Furthermore, amid trade conflicts and U.S. policies toward Russian aggression, Tokyo may need to pursue a nuclear contingency, such as ratifying renewed nuclear sharing or potentially developing its own.
Japan is currently developing and purchasing conventional long-range missiles, as well as planning concepts for enhancing its air defenses. Seventy-five percent of Japanese continue to support ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Still, due to the drift with Washington and the rapidly changing regional landscape, Tokyo could build a bomb within several months if it decided its existential security was threatened.
On the Korean Peninsula, Seoul continues to consider to either have its own nuclear deterrent, or redeploy the tactical U.S. weapons which were on its soil until 1991.
According to a 2024 Chey Institute for Advanced Studies poll conducted through Gallup Korea, 72.8% of South Koreans support the development of their own independent nuclear weapons program.
Despite this level of backing, there are significant hurdles as regard where potentially weapons will be placed,the question of political stability and the unpredictability of how Pyongyang might react if it believes Seoul is close to the bomb.
Given this, it is possible Seoul might adopt a policy of strategic ambiguity to keep the North Koreans guessing about its movements.
Conclusion
The atomic bombings of Japanese cities ended the Second World War, but the horrors of nuclear weapons usage should not be taken lightly today. Nevertheless, due to brewing global remilitarization, indecisiveness amongst strong allies, and growing threats, the need for nuclear weapons could become even more pertinent today.
Although winds are shifting from arms control, stemming from the threats of the Cold War, to a renewed weapons race amidst global tensions, the Indo-Pacific remains at a critical flashpoint. Arms control dialogue and diplomatic negotiations should stay at the forefront. Still, if mediation breaks down, nuclear proliferation and potential use could happen in the region once again, akin to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Julian McBride, a former U.S. Marine, is a forensic anthropologist and independent journalist born in New York. He reports and documents the plight of people around the world who are affected by conflicts, rogue geopolitics, and war, and also tells the stories of war victims whose voices are never heard. His bylines can be found in the National Security Journal, Byline Times, 19FortyFive, Heritage Daily, The Defense Post, Journal of Forensic Psychology, Modern Warfare Institute, and UK Defence Journal.
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