Japan's Abe gets a boost from tough talk on N Korea

Whatever North Korea intended to display with its ballistic missile tests, they have at least come at the right time for Japan's internal security hardliners.

No country in the region has criticized the missile launches as heavily as Japan. One voice has been particularly loud: that of government spokesman Shinzo Abe.

According to surveys, a majority of Japanese would like to see 51-year-old Abe elected as successor of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), on Sept. 20 and, consequently, become the new prime minister.

His tough position on the North Korean missile crisis has apparently helped Abe to consolidate his head start against rival -- and former government spokesman -- Yasuo Fukuda among voters.

Japan contemplate whether the country's pacifist Constitution allowed for a pre-emptive strike against North Korean missile bases as an act of defense, Abe said this week.

While deemed these words to be primarily a warning for North Korea, they also assumed that Abe intended to use his comments to present himself to the nation as a strong leader and, therefore, a suitable successor to the popular Koizumi.

Abe popularity points when he previously took a tough stance over the question of the release of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea.

He also became known as the leading voice among conservatives to advocate an amendment of the Constitution to allow Japan to maintain a regular military, not just armed forces strictly for defense purposes.

North Korea's missile tests may be an opportunity to garner more public support for this drive.