The two areas of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) foreign policy that most interest advocates of a strong U.S.-Japan relationship are the party’s positions towards China and the UN. Many observers presume that Japan under DPJ President (and likely premier) … read more >

I am writing you from South Korea. I arrived yesterday and was honored to speak before the Korea Foundation Forum and to present my views on where I think the United States and South Korea can harmonize our efforts, especially … read more >

Japan watchers in Washington (and Beijing and Seoul and…) spend much of their time trying to figure out what the Democratic Party of Japan’s (DPJ) foreign policies are likely to be and how those will change their countries’ relations with … read more >

Is anyone in Washington paying attention to the pattern behind Pyongyang’s military provocations over the past six months? In April, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea launched a three-stage ballistic rocket—an intercontinental payload delivery vehicle. Late the following month, North … read more >

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has brought itself to the brink of power by stressing domestic issues. The top five pledges in its election manifesto are all about local and pocketbook issues. They are: ending wasteful spending in Japan’s nearly … read more >

If, like me, you were in high school in the mid-1980s, then John Hughes was your biographer. And if you lived in suburban Chicago, you felt a personal connection to Hughes, who shot many of his best films in our … read more >

With polling still holding strong for Japan’s opposition Democratic Party (DPJ), policy analysts in Washington and elsewhere are paying more attention to the party’s likely policies. The course Japan’s next leaders take depends, of course, on whether the DPJ wins … read more >

For the first six months of the Obama administration, North Korea was off the diplomatic card. Pyongyang kept itself in the news, of course, by capturing two American journalists, launching a variety of missiles, and setting off another nuclear test. … read more >

In just three weeks, Japanese voters may upend more than half a century of political rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) continues to lead overwhelmingly in polls for the lower house elections, … read more >

Blaine Harden of the Washington Post has a terrific article from Seoul in the Washington Post titled “N. Korea’s Hard-Labor Camps: On the Diplomatic Back Burner”—terrific that is for the quality of the reporting. But the content is extremely bleak. … read more >