April 06, 2018
Nobody Puts Japan in the Corner
How Tokyo can make its way to the North Korean negotiating table.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s surprise two-day visit to Beijing resets the negotiating table for the future of the Korean Peninsula. Kim’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping prior to other heads of state signaled that China will play a significant role in talks to denuclearize and bring a durable peace to the peninsula. To date, Kim has also lined up meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27 and U.S. President Donald Trump in May. Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump appear to be in the works.
The only party conspicuously left out of these talks is Japan. Tokyo needs to send an unmistakable message to the United States that Japanese interests must also be represented in any bargaining with North Korea.
Tokyo has struggled to keep pace with the growing developments regarding North Korea over the past few months. The Japanese government only learned Trump would meet Kim after the president had already agreed to the invitation. While Tokyo is trying to establish its presence at these talks, it keeps getting pushed aside.
Read the full article at The Diplomat
More from CNAS
-
Repairing the Breach
Reports
U.S.-India relations stumbled badly during the second half of 2025. Differences between U.S. and Indian officials over how a ceasefire was reached between New Delhi and Islama...
By Lisa Curtis, Keerthi Martyn & Sitara Gupta
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Middle East Security
Iran U.S. War Latest Updates | ‘U.S., Israel Making Gains’: Lisa Curtis On Week 3 of Iran WarThree weeks into the Iran conflict, Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and program director at the Center for a New American Security, says the United States and Israel are making tac...
By Lisa Curtis
-
Reports
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
U.S.-Japan-Philippines Trilateral CooperationExecutive Summary Growing challenges from the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) massive military modernization, rapid technological advancement, and coercive military activ...
By Lisa Curtis & Ryan Claffey
-
In Brief: Increasing Tensions Between China and Japan Create Risks for the Region
Commentary
This article was originally published in War on the Rocks. China’s latest pressure campaign targeting Japan serves multiple purposes for Beijing. One is to redirect domestic p...
By Jacob Stokes
