Joint U.S. Korea Academic Studies
From the Issue
Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies 2012About Joint U.S. Korea Academic Studies
For over twenty years, KEI has sponsored annual major academic symposiums at universities across the country and major academic conferences. Each year, papers are specially commissioned to fit panel topics of current policy relevance to the U.S.-ROK alliance and implications for the Korean peninsula. Following the symposium, KEI edits and publishes those papers in an annual volume entitled “Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies.”
Author: Narushige Michshita
Region: Asia
Theme: Foreign Relations, Security
Location: Korea, North, Japan
Published June 8, 2012
Download PDFWhen scholars and commentators discuss Japan’s response to nuclear-armed North Korea, many jump to the conclusion that Japan will start thinking about arming itself with nuclear weapons while others contend that Japan will remain forever “pacifist.” This polemic tendency in the discourse on Japan’s security policy has created an unfortunate lack of understanding of Japanese policy. In fact, Tokyo has taken extensive non-nuclear military measures in order to cope with the North Korean threat while being less active in using diplomacy. This chapter sheds light on the military and diplomatic measures that Japan has taken and assesses how effective these measures are, based on the extent and the nature of the North Korean threat toward Japan.