Apr 8, 2009, 8:44 GMT
Tokyo - Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara on Wednesday expressed confidence in winning the bid to host the 2016 Olympics and said that North Korea's recent rocket launch was no security threat.
'I am confident in the race to host the Olympics,' the controversial governor said at a press conference in Tokyo.
'Of the four candidate cities, Tokyo is the most appropriate place for it.'
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation committee is set to visit Tokyo in mid-April. Its report carries big weight when the IOC elects the host city in October in Copenhagen.
The other bidders are Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro.
Tokyo, which houses about 14 million people, in 2007 started a 10-year project to create a low-carbon society, expand greenery and raise the efficiency of the city infrastructure.
As the world's premiere sports event promotes peace and solidarity, Japan is the only nation that has avoided being involved in any other war after the World War II, Ishihara said.
Known for his radical nationalist view, Ishihara shrugged off the recent threat posed by North Korea's launch of what it claimed to be a satellite rocket.
'I think there was too much fuss raised on this issue,' the governor said.
He does not believe Pyongyang's act would be a threat to hosting the Olympic Games or to the safety of the people with the level of military technology that the Stalinist state may possess, he said.
Ishihara referred to the reports from the United States and South Korea that no satellite was confirmed in the orbit.
Even if its technological development was more advanced, North Korea would not be able to make use of it because it would face retaliation.
'They (North Korea) can't execute that technology,' Ishihara said. 'So how could that be the threat to Japan? The main purpose of North Korea was to restore the bilateral dialogue with the United States. There is no other motive.'
As for the threat to its financial state, Japan's capital has the central government's guarantee to finance Tokyo Games. That is an important IOC precondition, but Ishihara said that Tokyo currently sees no need to make use of it.
'We believe that IOC will make a rational, overall judgment,' Ishihara said.
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