North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs pose a serious security threat not only to Japan but also to all of East Asia, injecting a new element of instability into the international situation following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Pyongyang admitted in talks with a visiting U.S. administration official in early October that it was continuing to develop nuclear weapons through construction of uranium enrichment facilities. This is in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework between the U.S. and North Korea as well as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty; it also contradicts the Sept. 17 Pyongyang Declaration, signed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, confirming compliance with international agreements.
Japan-North Korea talks on normalizing relations will not make progress unless the North scraps its nuclear program. Yet, following the failure of the latest round of talks in late October, Pyongyang threw up another obstacle by hinting that it might reverse its pledge to continue its moratorium on missile testing.