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1. The Dogma of Japanese Insignificance: The Academic Discourse on North Korea Policy Coordination

Author:
Linus Hagström
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Pacific Affairs
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
The message of Japanese insignificance in international affairs can be found in many different literatures, including that on the formation of policy towards North Korea in the 1990s and 2000s, in particular in regard to the recurring nuclear crisis. Books and articles on the topic either exclude Japanese foreign policy altogether or tend to emphasize the predominant role, or power, of the United States. Japanese foreign policy, it is implied, is under US control. The aim of this article is to question that dominant view, (1) by demonstrating that there is an undercurrent of statements in the same literature which could well be interpreted as implying Tokyo's exercising of political, economic and perhaps even military power over Washington; (2) by clarifying the conceptual bias upon which the predominant view rests; and (3) by suggesting how another understanding of power is more coherent with the first two points, but at the same time renders the whole question of power in North Korea policy coordination practically a quagmire. By doing so, this article deconstructs the more uniform understanding of power in that discourse and reveals a patchwork of inconsistencies, differences and questions.
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Washington, North Korea, and Tokyo

2. Tokyo's Quandary, Beijing's Moment in the Six-Party Talks: A Regional Multilateral Approach to Resolve the DPRK's Nuclear Problem

Author:
Kuniko Ashizawa
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Pacific Affairs
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
The record of Japan's diplomacy in the Six-Party Talks (SPT), the key multilateral mechanism to address North Korea's unflagging nuclear ambitions, is unpronounced. Tokyo's position in the SPT process has been often viewed as a secondary one, as if it was functioning as Washington's henchman, and at times as unproductive, thanks to its attempts to address the abductions issue in this multilateral setting. This represents an interesting contrast to China's SPT diplomacy, which has seen Beijing play an indispensable role, projecting itself as an honest broker. Further, the contrast between the two countries is intriguing when their general policies toward regional multilateral institutions over the past decade are taken into account. Both countries made a conspicuous shift in their attitudes toward regional multilateral institution-building, from negative and skeptical to positive and active. In the case of the SPT, a new multilateral institution in Asia, Tokyo's activism appeared to be muted, while Beijing positioned itself in a most visible manner. With this backdrop, the article examines Japanese policy making toward the SPT through a specific comparison with the country's general attitude toward regional institution-building and with China's SPT diplomacy. It argues that three aspects of the decision-making context—the nature of foreign policy questions, the composition of actors, and the type of available diplomatic tools—unique to Japan's dealings with the SPT essentially shaped its diplomacy and thus brought about a conspicuous contrast with its general attitude toward regional institution-building and with Beijing's growing regional activism.
Political Geography:
Japan, China, Washington, Beijing, Asia, North Korea, and Tokyo

3. Can Japanese Foreign Aid to North Korea Create Peace and Stability?

Author:
Marie Söderberg
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Pacific Affairs
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
Peace building and peace preservation are new key concepts in Japanese foreign aid policy. According to the revised ODA Charter of 2003, "Japan aspires for world peace. Actively promoting the aforementioned effort with ODA," which Japan will carry out "even more strategically" in the future. Asia, and especially East Asia, is singled out as a priority region. North Korea, with which Japan has not yet normalized relations, would therefore seem like an important starting point. How come development aid is not extended to that country? The answer is that aid is a very complex issue, and not giving is often regarded as being as effective as giving when it comes to eliciting concessions and bringing about changes in the recipients' policy behaviour. For Japan, the question of North Korea policy is made much more complicated by the nuclear issue and the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea. Various domestic opinions and interest groups have to be taken into consideration as well as security interests and foreign pressure. This article uses I. William Zartman's "ripe moment" theory and addresses the question of whether Japanese ODA can be an effective tool for the normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea as well as for helping to generate peace and stability in the Northeast Asia region.
Political Geography:
Japan and North Korea

4. The Political Economy of Japanese Sanctions towards North Korea: Domestic Coalitions and International Systemic Pressures

Author:
Christopher W. Hughes
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Pacific Affairs
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
Japan has often been dismissed by mainstream international relations and policy discourse as a bit-part actor in Korean Peninsula security affairs. If ascribed any role at all, it is seen as a secondary and submissive actor, generally bending to US strategy and international systemic pressures. This paper argues, however, that Japanese policy towards North Korea is now challenging these international systemic pressures, and threatening divergence with US policy. This is due to the fact that Japan's policy is increasingly driven by domestic political considerations that are rivalling or even superseding international influences in importance. In order to highlight these domestic dynamics, the paper utilizes domestic sanctions theory and a detailed empirical analysis of the Japanese policy-making process with regard to the imposition of sanctions on North Korea. It demonstrates that a "threshold coalition" has now emerged in Japan which is tipping government policy towards sanctions, irrespective of, or even in opposition to, international systemic pressures to desist from such actions. The paper highlights the changing disposition of a pluralistic range of domestic actors away from default engagement to default containment. The consequence of these aggregate domestic pressures is that the Japanese government is finding it progressively harder to converge with US and international strategy towards North Korea. Japan is thus set to augment its influence in Korean Peninsula security affairs by becoming a more obstructive partner in attempts to find an international resolution to the nuclear crisis.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Japan, North Korea, and Korea

5. Vicarious Traumas: Television and Public Opinion in Japan's North Korea Policy

Author:
Hyung Gu Lynn
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Pacific Affairs
Institution:
University of British Columbia
Abstract:
Critiques of American mainstream and conservative media for their often dubious cheerleading of the US war against Iraq have become familiar elements of recent public discourse. However, such analyses have not generated equivalent intellectual engagement with media representations of North Korea. Considering how difficult it has been to obtain accurate information on North Korea, this relative paucity is surprising. I address this lacuna by analyzing the role of the Japanese media, particularly television, in generating public perceptions of North Korea. Why did Japanese television coverage of North Korea reach saturation points following the 9/17 summit? Why were audiences so receptive? How did television shape public opinion? And how did domestic public opinion influence or constrict Japan's North Korea policy? In answering these questions, rather than simply observe that the abductions themselves have been the most important issue in Japan, or note that there have been temporary increases or decreases in Japanese media coverage of North Korea, I argue that television (and other forms of mass media) herded the public into a relatively constricted range of views through narrow, biased saturation coverage of the issue du jour. An intersection of structural concentration, content isomorphism, malleable audiences and domestic policy conflicts allowed the media not only to set agendas, but to prime the audience and frame the presentation of information. Public opinion, maintained by conservative political lobbies, viewer ratings responses and broadcasting strategies, ultimately constricted the government policy agenda, range and choice in dealing with North Korea, generating very predictable behaviours.
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, America, and North Korea

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