Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's state visit to the United States is still underway, but the highlights of the U.S.-Japan summit, joint statements, state dinners, congressional speeches, and the trilateral summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines have come to an end. There are many things to watch, but as is customary, we still only discuss issues related to the Korean Peninsula.
Holding a summit with Kim Jong-un is a matter for Kishida Ninzi. Despite the negative response of Kim Yo-jong, Choi Sun-hee and others, Kishida became more and more courageous, and said in an exclusive interview with US media before his visit to the United States that the two sides are "conducting high-level consultations". During this visit to the United States, Kishida also made a statement that "the previous position remains unchanged", vowing to carry out the DPRK-Japan summit to the end and never stop until the goal is achieved.
As I said earlier, one of the important things about Kishida's visit to the United States is to coordinate his stance on the DPRK with the United States. Before the Biden and Kishida talks, I had a meal with a few friends and said these two points-
- First, the US-Japan joint statement will not be out of the circle, and it will still be "reaffirming denuclearization, condemning the nuclear and missile program, calling on North Korea to return to dialogue, and calling for the maintenance of sanctions", and will not involve the issue of the "Golden Shore Meeting".
- Second, Biden will support the "Golden Shore Meeting" and will generally make a public statement.
Sure enough, the relevant part of the joint statement is still a cliché, and Biden's "welcome" to the "Golden Shore Meeting" appeared at the joint press conference after the talks.
There are some subtle changes. For example, when Biden and Kishida answered reporters' questions, they both mentioned the importance of resolving the "abduction issue", but when talking about the policy stance of the "Golden Shore Meeting", Kishida used the wording of "to resolve various issues" through the DPRK-Japan summit, which downplayed the "abduction" and "North Korean nuclear issues" and included a wider range of content than the previous "resolution of various outstanding issues, including abduction and nuclear issues" or "resolution of various outstanding issues". Personally, I think that Kishida's use of this more fictitious wording is roughly due to two points -
- First, avoid the two things that North Korea does not want to hear, and avoid provoking North Korea again.
- 其二，与拜登就最近金与正、崔善姬表态对他重申的“非常有力的支持”（President Biden once again gave myself a very strong assurance regarding the recent announcement by North Korea）有关。 也就是说，在朝日通过峰会改善关系这件事情上，拜登已经点了头。
At the same time, I also believe that Kim Yo-jong's talks and Choe Sun-hee's statement are all exerting pressure on the Japanese side and are an inevitable process of contacts between the two sides and negotiations on terms between the two sides. Judging from Kishida's visit to the United States and Biden's statement, this understanding should basically be relatively close to reality.
Biden uploaded a selfie with Kishida in the same car on social networking sites on the evening of April 9 local time, and said, "Glad you are in the United States again, Mr. Prime Minister";
It should be noted that my view on the possible improvement of DPRK-Japan relations is not the so-called "optimism," but from the perspective of what kind of impact this incident will have on the situation on the peninsula, and the focus is on the impact on us, such as what favorable and unfavorable factors will bring.
Some people have questioned my views on DPRK-Japan relations by citing Kishida's "state visit" to the United States and the deployment of intermediate-range missiles by the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. An article published by the Korean Central News Agency on April 12 gave circumstantial evidence of this.
The KCNA article, titled "U.S. Intermediate-Range Missile Deployment Attempts to Exacerbate Strategic Instability in the Asia-Pacific Region," was written by "Jeong Min, a commentator on international security issues." The core point of this article is that the deployment of medium-range missiles by the United States is "aimed at militarily containing and containing China's peaceful development and growth." The appearance of this article confirms my above view. Although it is only a signed article published in the name of an "individual", the fact that it was published on the official media platform of KCNA actually represents the official attitude of North Korea. Although "Zheng Min's" article vigorously criticized the United States' deployment of intermediate-range missiles, it actually stood from the perspective of a third party; at the same time, the official did not officially express its position, but used the official media to express its "personal views," which also clearly sent a clear signal to the United States and Japan.
That's the way it is. Whether it is the escalation of defense between the United States and Japan, or the deployment of medium-range missiles by the United States, the DPRK is very clear about its purpose and direction, and it will never really affect Pyongyang's intention and process of improving relations with Washington and Tokyo, because it has its "national interests" (the official Chinese translation of "national interests" in North Korea), because it has always proceeded from the foothold of its own "national interests."