The nuclear declaration delivered to China by North Korea on Thursday evening is long overdue and will likely reveal a sharp divide between Tokyo's hardline stance toward Pyongyang and Washington's policy of appeasement.
Much to Tokyo's chagrin and despite repeated demands to the contrary, the United States, Japan's only military ally, is putting aside the issue of the North's abduction of Japanese nationals by its agents in the 1970s and '80s and starting the process of striking Pyongyang from its list of terrorism-sponsoring states.
But high-ranking government officials said Japan, given the importance of its alliance with the U.S., will support Washington's efforts to promote the next phase of the process to denuclearize the North, despite expected shortfalls in Pyongyang's declaration that the U.S. apparently is inclined to disregard.