The prime minister emphasized that, in resolving the abductions, he is ready for "direct, high-level talks" that would pave the way for a meeting with Kim.
The order was later retracted but North Korean missile provocations are escalating, with launches of an unprecedented frequency near Japan.
A week after Prime Minister Kishida demanded Russia pull its forces out of Ukraine, Russia's Navy fired rockets capable of destroying a ship near Japan.
Critics are wrong to say Mr Kishida gives too much attention to Ukraine. Instead his powerful advocacy of the rules-based international order deserves applause.
The National Diet should not confine the discussion to sources of funding for expanded defense outlays, but include how to elevate Japan's deterrence power.
Addressing Myanmar, Tokyo should utilize the relationship of trust it has built with ASEAN in the postwar period through economic and humanitarian assistance.
Proactive diplomacy, for one, requires Prime Minister Kishida to visit Ukraine and assure President Zelenskyy of Japan's continuing support.
Diplomacy has not stopped North Korea from firing off missiles. Japan must have what it takes to punish it as an aggressor nation.
The premise of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has collapsed. Threatened by North Korea and others, Japan needs a new approach to nuclear deterrence.
Japan remains constantly exposed to the menace of North Korean missiles, and ominously the Kim regime recently "legalized" its use of nuclear weapons.
Instead of acknowledging the Uyghurs’ human rights issues, she supported the Chinese propaganda and has been silent on the atrocities of other dictatorships.
Traditionally wary of China, the role of Russia ー a close military partner of India but at the same time, increasingly close to China ー remains...