The escalating war of words between United States President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the hereditary dictator of North Korea, is making a dangerous situation worse. We cannot afford to dismiss it as a schoolboy “Yah-Boo” quarrel. There is a real danger that an incident involving a ship or an aircraft could lead to retaliation […]
In an interview with Sankei Shimbun newspaper on October 5, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leader of the LDP, spoke of his reasons for dissolving the House and calling a general election. “There is absolutely no guarantee that more time would resolve the problems” amid the increasing tensions with North Korea, he said. “In fact, […]
Once again, we hear the idea that “a nuclear-armed Japan is the anti-China card.” What concerns China more than anything is that Japan might develop a nuclear missile capability in response to North Korea. To get China on board in imposing sanctions on North Korea, it is necessary to do what might be colloquially […]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday, September 20, that countries need to unite to enforce sanctions and apply pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. Here is the full text of the speech he delivered at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New […]
“He’d never liked being up against the Chinese. There were too many of them. Station H might be stirring up a hornets’ next, but M had decided it was time to show the opposition that the service in Hongkong [sic] hadn’t quite gone out of business.” James Bond, the fictional defender of the […]
The month of August in Japan is a time for collective reflection on the merits of “war and peace.” It was in August of 1945 that Japan suffered the unprecedented devastation of two atomic bombs dropped on its people, and finally surrendered, bringing an end to World War II. The entire nation goes into […]
The city buses in Seoul started carrying plastic replicas of the “comfort women” statues On August 15th, as part of the National Liberation Day ceremony commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese control, President Moon Jae-in touched upon the issue of conscripted laborers, saying “the suffering continues of […]
In an interview with American media, Korean President Moon Jae-in rehashed the comfort women issue and repeated his criticism of Japan. We find this absolutely unacceptable. In his interview with Reuters, Moon stated that Japan is not “making its best effort” with regards to historical issues, including that of comfort women. We would […]
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to meet United States President Donald Trump on Thursday, June 29, in Washington for the first time. The eyes of the world will be fixated on how a conciliatory president in Seoul and a confrontational one in Washington agree to deal with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and […]
The abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents decades ago is a national tragedy. It is designated by the Abe administration as the “Most Important Issue,” yet it remains unresolved. This is because North Korea is the subject of international criticism and pressure for an issue other than the abductions: its continued […]
The Izumo, a Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force’s helicopter carrier, sets sail from Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Monday, May 1, 2017 to escort a U.S. supply ship. It is the first such operation during peacetime under Japan’s national security laws as tensions mount in the region over North Korea. (Photo by Ryosuke Kawaguchi) (Part […]
Russia is increasing its economic cooperation with North Korea. It turns out that the North Korean combined passenger and cargo ship Mangyongbong-92, which was barred from Japanese waters, will begin regular trips to Russia in May. The ship is planned to make 6 trips a month between Vladivostok, Russia’s easternmost city, and Rason in […]
