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The war-renouncing article of the Japanese Constitution has been chosen as the most likely
candidate to win this year′s Nobel Peace Prize that′s set to be announced later this
week. If this becomes reality, the Abe administration
in Japan could come under great international pressure to rein in its military ambitions.
Sohn Jung-in has more. Each year, the Oslo Peace Research Institute
forecasts the most likely winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and this time it has selected
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. The institute noted the article′s renunciation
of war and the use of force, assume much greater importance amid military tensions in Ukraine
and other parts of the world. The article renounces the right to engage
in war and rejects the use of force as a means of settling international disputes.
However, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe′s reinterpretation of the Article in July caused protests to
erupt in Japan. Against Abe′s approach to allow for military
expansion, Naomi Takasu, an ordinary housewife from Kanagawa Prefecture, initiated a campaign
to highlight Article 9 in the Nobel Peace Prize selection.
"Please spread the message of war-renouncing promise worldwide so that everyone can live
happily." After garnering more than 400-thousand signatures,
the Norwegian Nobel Committee, tasked with picking the peace laureate, accepted its recommendation
to include Article 9 as a candidate in April. Among the other contenders this year are Pope
Francis, Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
If Japanese peace activists clinch the prize, it would likely put intense pressure on the
Abe government to step back from its military ambitions.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner will be announced on Friday.
Sohn Jung-in, Arirang News.