Japan’s policy towards North Korea under the Second Abe Administration

Karol Żakowski

doi:10.18778/8220-793-4

Japan’s policy towards North Korea under the Second Abe Administration

Karol Żakowski

University of Lodz

Publikacja:

Asia in World Politics: Past, Present, and Future

Serie: Contemporary Asian Studies Series

Strony: 213-227

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/8220-793-4.12

Słowa kluczowe: China–U.S. relations, South China Sea, Sino-Cuban relations, North Korean nuclear crisis, Japan–South Korea relations

Opublikowane: 15 czerwca 2021

Kategorie: Politologia i stosunki międzynarodowe , Otwarty dostęp

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The aim of this chapter is to examine the efficiency of Prime Minister Abe’s hardline policy towards North Korea under his second administration. The analysis is conducted through the lenses of neoclassical realism. Apart from domestic factors (Abe’s “hawkish” convictions and anti-North Korean moods among the public in Japan), external stimuli will be examined, such as the US’s sudden shift towards soft-power policy vis-à-vis Pyongyang under the Trump administration and its impact on Tokyo’s foreign policy. It is argued that while ideological leanings of decision makers influenced the pace and intensity of diplomatic endeavors, it is the international determinants that delineated the general course of Japan’s foreign policy.