SEOUL — A landmark visit by Japanese Emperor Akihito to South Korea would serve as a good opportunity to move bilateral relations forward, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha said Monday.   Speaking at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly, she said a visit by Japan’s symbolic figurehead would be “a big opportunity for the….Read more

The ROK government, which abstained in the vote on the Japan-sponsored resolution on the eradication of nuclear weapons at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee (dealing with disarmament), announced on Oct. 30 that the reason was “there was excessive emphasis on the damages from atomic bombing of a particular country (i.e. Japan).”

Pelagic fishing has become an important part of Beijing’s national policy   Every time there is talk about a Japanese favorite seafood like Pacific saury and squid disappearing from tables due to a shortage in supplies, news reports tend to lay the blame on overexploitation of fish stocks by China. Very little is known, however, about the fact that China’s….Read more

Diplomatic efforts are being made, but it is obvious that there are limits to talks. The North Korean situation is at the stage where the slightest provocation could touch off a war. How will the Self-Defense Forces respond in the event of a contingency? We asked a Defense Ministry official.   What the ministry did not publicly announce   War….Read more

Five experts discussed the situation surrounding North Korea during NHK’s “Nichiyo Toron” Sunday debate show. The panelists included MIT senior fellow Yukio Okamoto, former Ambassador to China Yuji Miyamoto, senior research fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation Tsuneo Watanabe, Nanzan University Professor Shunji Hiraiwa, and Waseda University Professor Chikako Ueki. Concerning North Korea’s “silence” since its launch of a Mars….Read more

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that he wants to “raise pressure to the maximum” against North Korea during U.S. President Trump’s first visit to Japan in early November, but added that North Korea could “drastically improve its economy if the country will take the right path.”   Speaking at a reception for the Mount Fuji Dialogue,….Read more

TOKYO — Japan and the U.S. need to set new rules on trade and investment, Tom Rose, a top aide to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, told a forum in Tokyo on Saturday.   Rose’s remarks come days before U.S. President Donald Trump is to kick off a tour of Asia. He was speaking at the Mount Fuji Dialogue, a….Read more

TOKYO — Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono met with a Chinese official Friday to discuss scheduling a trilateral summit that also includes South Korea, with the aim of holding the talks by the end of the year.    Tokyo is the host country this year, but arranging the meeting has been put off since summer in advance of Beijing’s twice-per-decade….Read more