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The Copenhagen School's concept of securitisation is regarded as one of the most innovative, but also most controversially discussed approaches in IR and security studies. Located within the wider theoretical scheme formulated by the Copenhagen School, it provides a specific analytic in respect of examining security politics and, predicated on this, the evaluation of the prevailing pattern of security interactions on a given regional level. However, several commentators have pointed out a tension within the securitisation approach, which mainly stems from two different possible readings of this concept: one that puts more theoretical emphasis on language and a second that stresses the importance of considering context. By conducting a first-cut, preliminary analysis on one crucial issue of current Japanese foreign policy, the case of abducted Japanese citizens to North Korea, this paper highlights the challenges one encounters in trying to apply the securitisation approach to this specific case. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent bilateral relations between Japan and North Korea are the worse they have been in many years. Several major problems still impede the normalization of Japan-North Korea relations. These problems, but particularly the abduction of Japanese nationals during the 1970s and 1980s by North Korean agents and Japan's past annexation of Korea, continue to strain this bilateral relationship. Pyongyang's decisions in 2006 to launch a series of missiles and then to detonate a nuclear device created even more problems for the already bad relationship between Japan and North Korea. Caught in the middle of a these bilateral problems, which have palpably increased tension between Tokyo and Pyongyang, are the many thousands of Korean residents in Japan who have maintained their political allegiance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Represented by Chongryon (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) for more than fifty years, these Koreans loyal to the DPRK, like all zainichi (Koreans permanently living in Japan), have long faced discrimination in Japanese society. However, of late the members of Chongryon also have had to contend with the political fallout from the visible deterioration in Japan-North Korean relations, which has been exacerbated by Tokyo's adoption of a hard-line policy toward the DPRK. This paper examines the politically connected problems that Chongryon Koreans have recently experienced in Japan, as well as the extent to which this ethno-political minority has been subjected to repression by the Japanese government, as claimed by these Koreans and by Pyongyang. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the autonomy in the foreign policy of Japan. It presents a historical background of Japan's relationship with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the immediate post-World War II period. It summarizes the domestic factors within Japan that led to a different North Korea foreign policy to that of the U.S. It mentions how Japanese autonomy is maintained in policy regulations.

This paper discusses Japan?s policy objectives and instruments in response to increased North Korea?s nuclear threat. It sheds light on the extent of Japan?s contribution to peaceful resolution of the North Korea?s nuclear crisis. The final section of the paper considers two questions: what kind of policy Japan should pursue to resolve the urgent problem of the nuclear standoff; and what kind of policy Japan should take to reduce other forms of North Korean threat. The author argues that Tokyo should promote the soft-landing of North Korea and try to increase North Korea?s dependence on Japan. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of the Cold War, Japan and North Korea have made sporadic attempts, all to no avail, to establish normal bilateral relations. In recent years, some of the disagreements between Japan and North Korea have been identified as multilateral problems, making the prospect of rapprochement even more difficult. This paper examines the recent political circumstances related to the failure of Japan and North Korea to establish normal diplomatic relations. These circumstances stem from three major sources. First, amplified by partisan positions in Japan, there is not always clarity, and sometimes there is wavering, on how Tokyo can best deal with its problems with North Korea. Second, some officials in Pyongyang, specifically those who have maintained a predilection for provocation, most notably by recently conducting a nuclear test, have been steadily gaining the upper hand in the decision-making process. Third, Tokyo has demonstrated a strong commitment to U.S. security initiatives in Northeast Asia. Currently, the major problem in Japan said to be preventing normalized relations with North Korea is the abduction issue. In Tokyo, those that support the normalization of relations with Pyongyang have been marginalized and face lackluster domestic support for rapprochement with North Korea, which constantly stresses the need for Japan to make amends for its past crimes. Other problems impeding Japanese-North Korean normalization efforts are the military-significant actions of hardliners in Pyongyang and more generally North Korea's continued use of the past to explain the present, Washington's North Korean policy that has unilaterally focused on nuclear disarmament and which has only very recently shown some flexibility, Japan's compliance with U.S. initiatives, and Tokyo's emergent security strategies. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical acrimony between Japan and North Korea has been exacerbated in recent years because both nations have relied on policies that include nuclear deterrence, whether real on contrived, to bolster national security. Complicating this problem is that Japan and North Korea have each presented contradictory positions with regard to nuclear deterrence. While North Korea repeatedly has emphasized its desire for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, it has also recently stressed the need to maintain a strong nuclear deterrent force and claimed that it possesses nuclear weapons. Although Japan continues to stress the importance of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and strengthening the nuclear nonproliferation regime, it has become very complacent with its position under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Tokyo's concerns about a China threat have been overshadowed by its position that North Korea is a volatile state that poses an immediate danger to Japan. Compounding Pyongyang's perception of Washington's hostility directed at North Korea is the growing threat it perceives from the U.S.-Japanese security alliance and the fear that Tokyo has plans to make Japan a nuclear weapons power. In addition to examining these issues, this paper analyzes ways that Japan and North Korea can move toward developing a non-confrontational relationship, especially one that excludes reliance on nuclear deterrence policies. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Why has Japan not normalized its diplomatic relations with North Korea?” While following daily Japanese media, answers to this question probably appear self-evident and the question itself sounds foolish to many Japanese. However, reconsidering it from b ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]