Japan-North Korea Relations - Background and Prospects

Stockholm Seminar on Japan The Swedish Institute of International Affairs, in cooperation with the European Institute of Japanese Studies at Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm University and the Swedish Defence University,arranged a seminar about the relations between Japan and North Korea.

Since the end of World War II, the relationship between Japan and North Korea has been strained not just due to the difficulty arising from the autocratic regime but also due to various issues such as North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and abduction of Japanese citizens. Japan has been working to resolve the abduction issue and to normalize the relationship with North Korea through former PM Koizumi's trips to Pyongyang in 2002 and 2004. In May 2014, diplomatic talks were held in Stockholm but no real progress has been made on the question of the abductees. What are Japan’s current priorities regarding North Korea? How can the security situation be improved on the Korean Peninsula? 

Speaker: Hitoshi Tanaka
Mr. Tanaka served for three years as Japan’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs where he was a top advisor to PM Koizumi on a broad range of issues, including relations with North Korea, China, Russia and the US. Mr. Tanaka has been a key actor in shaping Japan’s approach to East Asia and currently chairman of the Institute for International Strategy at the Japan Research Institute. 

Various articles by Mr. Tanaka can be found here: East Asia Insights 

The seminar will be moderated by Linus Hagström, Senior Research Fellow at UI and Professor of Political Science at the Swedish Defence University.

Welcome! 

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