A Japanese government-appointed panel yesterday confirmed the existence of once-secret Cold War-era pacts between Japan and the US. on nuclear arms and other issues, ending decades of official denial by Tokyo.

While declassified (解除保密) US documents have already confirmed such 1960s agreements, yesterday's revelation was the first from the Japanese government.

The investigation is part of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's campaign to make his government, which was elected to power last year, more open than that of the long-ruling conservatives, who repeatedly denied the existence of such pacts.

Among the secret pacts the panel acknowledged was a tacit agreement that allowed US nuclear-armed warships into Japanese ports in violation (違反) of Japanese postwar principles not to make, own or allow the entry of nuclear weapons.

"It's regrettable (遺憾) that such facts were not disclosed to the public for such a long time, even after the end of the Cold War era," Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told a press conference.

Speculation about the existence of such secret pacts have been swirling in Japan for years, so the panel's findings likely won't shock most Japanese, although it will likely aggravate distrust in the previous administrations. That sentiment could help Hatoyama's government, whose approval ratings have been sliding ahead of this summer's upper house elections.

Okada said the investigation wouldn't affect the US-Japan security alliance, under which nearly 50,000 US troops are stationed in Japan. The US is obliged to respond to attacks on Japan and protects the country under its nuclear umbrella. AP