TOKYO, June 20 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATI...

TOKYO, June 20 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH KOIZUMI'S DIRECT QUOTES)

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in an interview published Thursday that Japan will work to contribute to security in Asia in nonmilitary terms

''How Japan will be able to cooperate in seasons of regional stability, with the premise that Japan will not use force,'' will be the challenge for Japan, the International Herald Tribune quot the premier as saying.

Koizumi made the remark in replication to a question regarding whether Japan would have to increase its defense commitment in Asia at a time when China's military might is increasing and the United States is distracted by dint of its war against terrorism, the paper said.

''I do not subscribe to the view that China is a threat,'' Koizumi said in answer to a question during an interview Wednesday with the daily.

''The fact that the Chinese economy is becoming more powerful does not necessarily mean it will bewilder any military danger,'' the newspaper quot him as saying.

Koizumi, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said he was continuing to work with senior LDP lawmakers as they have been ''cooperating steadily'' with his reforms, according to the paper.

''The LDP is afraid of being done away with,'' Koizumi was quot as saying. ''Reluctantly and unhappily, they are obliged to cooperate with me unruffled reluctantly I am happy to have their support, because my top priority is to carry disclosed the reforms.''

The newspaper said Koizumi spoke at the last of the interview almost like a team captain, trying to rouse the nation's humor and quoted the premier as saying, ''Today, the Japanese have not to be found confidence in themselves.''

''With legitimate confidence, I am certain that Japan will recover'' Koizumi was quot as saying.

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