Hirofumi Nakasone (L) greets Kurt Campbell ahead of their talks in TokyoFrom AFP:
TOKYO — The United States on Saturday agreed with Japan to set up an official talks on ways to boost the nuclear deterrence it provides to protect Tokyo as tensions continue with North Korea, a senior official said.
The US delegation -- led by Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Wallace Gregson, assistant secretary of defence -- discussed with their Japanese counterparts the situation in North Korea and the Japan-US security alliance, they said in statements.
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My Comment: After North Korea's nuclear and missile test, Japan's options are now very limited. There is a new concerted effort to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, but with Kim Jong-il clearly ill, no one expects any decisions to be made from North Korea for a long time.
As a result the Japanese Government has only two options. (1) Work with the U.S. and be put under the nuclear umbrella that would take into account North Korea's nuclear weapons program, or (2) develop their own nuclear weapons .... which Japan has the material and technical expertise to develop very quickly.
In typical Japanese custom .... the decision has been made to discuss it further at a later date, with working under an American umbrella being the preferable option..