North Korea and a School Scandal Heap Pressure on Japan's Prime Minister
It is no exaggeration to say that the bolt out of the blue commitment by US President Donald Trump to sit down for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has had a severe impact on Japan's government.
A carefully crafted, US-Japan coordinated strategy - of unremitting political and economic pressure on North Korea - has been a replaced by a new unilateral US policy of (albeit perhaps temporary) moderation. The shift is informed by Trump's confident optimism that he will be able to reach a deal to negotiate away the North's nuclear weapons and advanced missile programme.
But the unexpected talks will have an impact in Japan not unlike the July 1971 announcement by then-president Richard Nixon that he planned to travel to Beijing to meet Chairman Mao Zedong.… Seguir leyendo »