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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
This paper analyzes Japan's concerns, as well as its prioritization and leverage points, in multilateral negotiations on North Korea's nuclear programme within the Six-Party Talks. It argues that Japan has deliberately taken an obstructionist stance in multilateral negotiations and that three issues are relevant to understanding Japan's actions: Japan's close relations with the US, its preference for economic rather than political diplomacy, and the dominance of single-issue politics influenced by domestic political considerations. In the Six-Party Talks, Japan has played a largely circumstantial role in the practical sense while being a powerful spoiler in broader, strategic terms. Tokyo wants a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and a stable neighbour, but a Six-Party Talks solution – which would enhance China's standing – is in itself not a priority. Moreover, Pyongyang provides a welcome justification to the Japanese government for the enhancement of its security capabilities. Japanese interests are well served by retaining the status quo, which explains why Tokyo consciously adopted the role of spoiler. After the Bush administration removed North Korea from its list of terrorism sponsoring states, this position appears no longer sustainable.
[1] Kuniko Ashizawa, ‘Tokyo's Quandary, Beijing's Moment in the Six-Party Talks: A Regional Multilateral Approach to Resolve the DPRK's Nuclear Problem’, Pacific Affairs, vol. 19, no. 3, 2006, pp. 411-432.
[2] Many commentators accepted Washington's claim about the North's alleged highly enriched uranium programme, while Northeast Asian countries remained unconvinced. Gavan McCormack, ‘North Korea and the Birth Pangs of a New Northeast Asian Order’, Arena, Special Issue No. 29/30, 2008.
[3] Looking back on this period Shigemura harshly criticizes the Japanese government for being weak and having been too eager to enter the SPT, arguing that the success of a Six-Party agreement depends on willingness of the Japanese to provide funds. Shigemura Toshimitsu, Chosen Hanto ‘Kaku’ Gaiko – Kitachosen no Senjutsu to Keizairyoku [Korean Peninsula ‘Nuclear’ Diplomacy' – North Korea's Strategy and Economic Power] (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2006), pp. 63-64.
[4] Various issues of the annual Diplomatic Bluebook, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Defense of Japan, Ministry of Defense (before 2007, Defense Agency).
[5] The Japanese government currently identifies seventeen Japanese citizens as having been abducted by North Korea and continues investigations into other cases in which abduction is not ruled out. Five abductees returned to Japan in 2004. North Korea long asserted that eight abductees died and that it has no knowledge of the four others. In June 2008, however, Pyongyang agreed to reopen investigation into the issue. For the Japanese viewpoint, see:
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