Growing military tension on the Korean Peninsula has posed another major diplomatic challenge for Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet, and Japan needs to form a firm united front with the United States and South Korea to deal with Pyongyang's provocations, critics said Wednesday.
Kan's administration was quick to lash out at North Korea for shelling the South's Yeonpyeong Island on Tuesday and threatened more sanctions against the North.
But Takashi Kawakami, a professor at Takushoku University, said it would be "dangerous" for Japan to act on its own.