The outcome of the US-North Korea summit in Singapore is a headache for Japan. None of Tokyo’s priorities were addressed by Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Japan must now reorient itself, DW’s Martin Fritz writes.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been Donald Trump’s most loyal partner since he became US president a year and a half ago. Despite the risk of war, Abe was a steadfast supporter of Trump’s “policy of maximum pressure.” Abe never uttered a critical word about the president’s approach. He also elected to quietly swallow US import tariffs on steel and aluminum, which were applied to Japan without delay — the only G7 member to suffer that fate.
Abe’s stoic allegiance to Trump is based on the realization that Japan is at Washington’s mercy — for better or worse. As a result of its pacifist constitution, Japan is utterly dependent upon the US’s nuclear umbrella its military assistance. Above all, Japan is entirely unable to counter China’s hegemonic claims in Southeast Asia without the United States. Japan is also dependent upon the US to look out for its interests concerning North Korea.
Last week, Abe himself outlined his country’s top priorities: North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and the fate of abducted Japanese citizens. The prime minister was referring to the true denuclearization of North Korea, the end to North Korea’s strategic missile program and the return of citizens taken by Pyongyang in the 1970s and ’80s. Measured in those terms, this week’s summit was a defeat for Tokyo.
No agreement was made as to the beginning of nor timeframe for denuclearization. The word missile was never uttered by Trump or Kim, nor did it appear in the written agreement the two signed. Trump claims he raised the issue of abducted Japanese but there was no word as to what will happen next. More grave still was the fact that Trump declared he will end US-South Korean military maneuvers in the region while at the same time raving about the amount of money the US could save by ending the exercises and withdrawing troops from the peninsula.
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