The Structure of Impasse: The Complexity of Japanese “North Korean issues”

ASIA FORUM with Norihito Kubota

Assistant Professor, National Defense Academy of Japan

Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 14:00-16:00

 

Complex interactions exist between “North Korean issues” and Japanese foreign policy. From the Japanese point of view, the main components of these issues are abduction, missile launches, and nuclear development. Although Japan considers the abduction issue to be their top priority, there are currently no international forums that could exert pressure on North Korea regarding this. Thus, the resolution of this issue, to no small extent, depends on the multilateral negotiation on nuclear disarmament, and on political pressure exerted by the United States. What effect does this complex political configuration have on Japanese diplomacy and regional security?

Norihito Kubota is an Assistant Professor at the National Defense Academy of Japan; he became a Visiting Fellow at ISDP this April. From 2008 to 2010, prior to joining ISDP, Mr. Kubota was a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto. His publications include “Effects of the Political Regime and Casualty Sensitivity on the Provision of Personnel to the UN Peacekeeping Operations: The Application and the Extension of the Lebovic’s Analysis,” Defense Studies, No. 38 (2008); “What Is to be Secured,” in Yasuhiro Takeda ed. Introduction to Security Studies, Aki-Syobo, (2007); “Personal and Group Decision-making: Political Psychology of Failures” in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Masaru Kohno eds., Access Security Studies, Nihon-Keizai-Hyoron-Sha, (2005).

Location: ISDP, Västra Finnbodavägen 2, Stockholm-Nacka. For a map and directions, please go here.

To attend: RSVP to Ms. Martina Klimesova at mklimesova@isdp.eu