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Jesse Johnson
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2018
North Korea bashes top Japanese diplomat for saying timing too early for declaration to end Korean War
North Korea's state-run media has bashed Foreign Minister Taro Kono after he said during a recent meeting with the United States' top North Korea envoy that it is too early to adopt a declaration ending the Korean War, and that concrete steps toward denuclearization should come first.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 16, 2018
Massive Russian war games see naval forces hunt submarines in Pacific waters north of Hokkaido
Russian naval vessels have conducted anti-submarine drills in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Pacific waterway between Russia and Hokkaido, as part of the country's largest military exercise in decades.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 12, 2018
Obama weighed pre-emptive strike against North Korea after fifth nuclear blast and missile tests near Japan in 2016, Woodward book claims
Former U.S. President Barack Obama considered a pre-emptive strike on North Korea after it conducted its fifth nuclear test in September 2016, just days after lobbing three medium-range ballistic missiles 1,000 kilometers into Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to a book by Watergate journalist...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Sep 11, 2018
Second Kim-Trump summit could lay groundwork for arms control talks — and de facto nuclear state recognition
A second meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is being planned, the White House said Monday. Such a summit, some experts say, could help break the current impasse in denuclearization talks and lay the groundwork for what ultimately may be the only way forward:...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 10, 2018
Trump nearly sent tweet that could have sparked war with North Korea, Watergate journalist says
Could a single tweet spark a nuclear war? U.S. President Donald Trump may have narrowly avoided such a scenario had he sent out a missive he drafted that North Korea would have seen as a sign of an imminent attack, Watergate journalist Bob Woodward said in an interview Sunday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 9, 2018
North Korea marks 70th birthday with toned-down military parade amid stalled U.S. nuclear talks
North Korea held a military parade Sunday to mark its 70th birthday but apparently did not display its longer-range ballistic missiles — including those capable of hitting the U.S. — media reports and photos showed, amid what could be a move by Pyongyang to demonstrate seriousness about a pledged...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 6, 2018
Kim agrees to 'cooperate closely' with U.S. on denuclearizing, says 'stronger' measures possible
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has agreed to "cooperate closely" with the U.S. — even possibly accepting "stronger" denuclearization measures — a top South Korean official said Thursday, amid an apparent rift over progress in U.S.-North Korean nuclear talks.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 5, 2018
South Korean special envoy visits Pyongyang, delivers letter to North's Kim
A South Korean special envoy delivered a letter from President Moon Jae-in to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday during a rare visit to Pyongyang — part of a bid to help break an impasse in nuclear negotiations with the U.S. and plan for Moon's third summit with Kim later this month.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2018
Xi to send China's No. 3 to Pyongyang for 70th anniversary celebrations
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will not make his inaugural visit as president to Pyongyang to attend ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of North Korea's founding, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 2, 2018
South Korean president taps national security chief to head special delegation's Wednesday visit to Pyongyang
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday tapped his national security chief as a special envoy to lead a delegation on a one-day trip to North Korea on Wednesday as Moon seeks to kick-start stalled nuclear negotiations with the U.S. and plan for his third summit with North leader Kim Jong Un later...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2018
Japanese helicopter destroyer trains with U.S. aircraft carrier in disputed South China Sea
In the latest sign of Japan's increased activity in the disputed South China Sea, the Maritime Self-Defense Force's largest vessel, the helicopter carrier Kaga, linked up Friday for bilateral exercises with the U.S. Navy's Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group, both countries' navies said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2018
Australian air force and ASDF to hold first joint drills in Japan
The Air Self-Defense Force and Royal Australian Air Force in September will hold joint exercises in Japan for the first time, as the Chinese military continues to punch further into the Western Pacific.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2018
Speculative fiction or prophetic prose? Novel imagines a U.S.-North Korea nuclear conflict
Jeffrey Lewis' speculative novel, 'The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States,' takes the form of a 9/11 Commission-style report on a fictionalized war between North Korea and the U.S. and its Asian allies in March 2020.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 31, 2018
South Korean President Moon Jae-in to dispatch special envoy to North Korea next week
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will dispatch a special envoy to North Korea next week to discuss a scheduled summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, as well as ways to salvage stalled denuclearization talks with the United States, the presidential Blue House said in a statement Friday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 31, 2018
Chinese state-run media blasts Trump tweets as 'messages from some alternative universe'
Chinese state-run media unleashed an unusually strong rebuttal to tweets by U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing Beijing of hacking former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's email server, blasting the remarks as seemingly "from some alternative universe."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 29, 2018
As trade tensions rise, fewer Americans see China favorably, survey shows
Trade disputes — not China's surging military strength — are the top concern of Americans, a comprehensive annual survey released Wednesday on the public image of China in the United States has shown.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 28, 2018
Trump called off top U.S. diplomat's Pyongyang visit after belligerent letter from North Korea: report
The White House last week canceled a planned trip to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, just hours before the top U.S. diplomat was due to leave, after receiving a belligerent secret letter from North Korea's No. 2 that put the possibility of a successful visit in doubt, a report said Monday....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2018
North Korea expels detained Japanese tourist as neighbors' hot-and-cold relationship continues
Man who allegedly broke the law during a recent tour of the country was freed on humanitarian grounds, according the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 26, 2018
North Korea blasts U.S. for 'double-dealing' by conducting 'man-killing' secret military drills
North Korean state-run media on Sunday slammed the U.S. for "double-dealing" by allegedly conducting what it said were "secret drills involving man-killing special units," a charge that came just a day after a trip to Pyongyang by the top U.S. diplomat was canceled.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 25, 2018
North Korea preparing large-scale military parade in September
Nuclear-armed North Korea is preparing for a large-scale military parade to mark its Foundation Day next month, researchers said Friday, the same day the White House canceled a trip by the top U.S. diplomat to Pyongyang.

Longform

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