Tetsuya Endo, former vice chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of Japan, writes, “Japan has the technology to develop nuclear weapons and, with the relevant legal revisions, Japan could actually embark on a nuclear weapons development program… However, it would require huge commitments of manpower, material and money, and it would not be so easy to change the persisting popular anti-nuclear sentiment. More importantly, a nuclear-armed Japan would face severe isolation from the international community. Given all these grave risks, it is clear that the nuclear option is surely not in the national interest of Japan and far from a realistic policy choice.”
Archives
NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, August 23, 2007
NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, August 23, 2007 NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, August 23, 2007 I. NAPSNet 1. ROK on NLL Maritime Border 2. DPRK Refugee-Defectors 3. ROK Hostages in Afghanistan 4. Japan-India Relations 5. Bay of Bengal Naval Drill 6. US on PRC Military 7. SCO Energy Cooperation 8. US-PRC Trade Relations 9. PRC Media […]
Policy Forum 07-062: Seoul’s Impetuous Summit Initiative
Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, writes, “If Roh presses for a North Korean commitment to tangible progress toward denuclearization by the year’s end, then a North-South summit will be a useful adjunct to the Six-Party Talks. It is more likely, however, that the meeting will provide only a patina of progress, and it could actually endanger multilateral efforts to pressure Pyongyang to divest itself of its nuclear weapons.”
NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 22, 2007
NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 22, 2007 NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 22, 2007 I. NAPSNet 1. DPRK on Nuclear Programme 2. DPRK-US Normalization Talks 3. Inter-Korean Military Relations 4. ROK Abductees 5. ROK Hostages in Afghanistan 6. Japan-ROK Economic Relations 7. Japan-India Relations 8. Japan MSDF Indian Ocean Mission 9. Shanghai Cooperation Organization 10. […]
NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, August 21, 2007
NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, August 21, 2007 NAPSNet Daily Report Tuesday, August 21, 2007 I. NAPSNet 1. Russia on DPRK Peace and Security Working Group 2. US on Removal of DPRK from Terror List 3. Relief for DPRK Flood Victims 4. ROK – US Joint Military Excercise 5. Japan-India Relations 6. Japan’s Emergency Energy Measures […]
NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, August 20, 2007
NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, August 20, 2007 NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, August 20, 2007 I. NAPSNet 1. Six Party Peace and Security Working Group 2. DPRK Flood 3. UNDP DPRK Investigation 4. DPRK Refugee-Defectors 5. ROK Hostages 6. ROK Presidential Race 7. PRC Nuclear Power Plants 8. PRC-Kazakhstan Pipeline 9. PRC Typhoon 10. PRC Safety […]
NAPSNet Daily Report Friday, August 17, 2007
NAPSNet Daily Report Friday, August 17, 2007 NAPSNet Daily Report Friday, August 17, 2007 I. ROK Weekly Report 1. Introduction 2. Survey on Summit 3. Last Summit in Vain 4. Acknowledge DPRK’s Limits 5. Choice Between Cooperation or Regime Change 6. Summit Aids Six-Party Talks 7. Build Trust Through Economic Cooperation 8. ROK Must Get […]
NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, August 16, 2007
NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, August 16, 2007 NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, August 16, 2007 I. NAPSNet 1. Hill on DPRK Nuclear Working Group 2. Churches on Six Party Talks 3. ROK Aid for DPRK Flood 4. DPRK Economy 5. ROK on US Help with Hostages 6. US Weapons Sales to ROK 7. Japan Stock Exchange […]
NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 15, 2007
NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 15, 2007 NAPSNet Daily Report Wednesday, August 15, 2007 I. NAPSNet 1. Six Party Nuclear Working Group 2. KEEI on DPRK Energy 3. DPRK Floods 4. US on DPRK Flood Relief 5. Inter-Korean Summit 6. Inter-Korean Family Reunions 7. Japanese Abductee Investigations 8. ROK Hostages in Afghanistan 9. Japan on […]
The Kaesong North-South Korean Industrial Complex
Dick K. Nanto, Specialist in Industry and Trade in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service, and Mark E. Manyin, Analyst in Asian Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service, write, “The United States currently has a mixed policy with respect to the KIC. Since South Korea is a close ally of the United States, Washington has been supportive of efforts by South Korea to engage the North in inter-Korean projects that benefit South Korea. On the other hand, the United States has been firm in predicating any economic or other concessions on actions by the DPRK to curtail or eliminate its nuclear program.”