Yomiuri, Nikkei, and Sankei wrote that Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell arrived in Japan on Thursday on his first trip to the region since taking up his post last month. Nikkei quoted him as telling reporters after arriving at Narita International Airport that he looks forward to building on the U.S.-Japan alliance as the cornerstone of peace, security, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. The paper also quoted him as saying that he looks forward to exchanging views with senior Japanese officials on the free and open Indo-Pacific strategy, Iran, and North Korea. Sankei wrote that he told reporters at Narita that he will make efforts to further strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance, which he called the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Yomiuri speculated that he will discuss such issues as security in the Asia-Pacific region, denuclearization of the DPRK, and the situation in Iran with senior Japanese officials during his visit until July 14. The paper conjectured that the assistant secretary may also discuss the dispute between Japan and South Korea over Tokyo’s tightened controls of semiconductor material exports to the ROK. NHK aired a similar report on Thursday evening.