Thursday, October 05, 2017, 12:00 - 14:00
"North Korea Nuclear Crisis"
Language: Speech and Q&A will be in English
Tensions have been escalating at an alarming speed on the Korean Peninsula since North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test last month. The hermit nation shows no sign of caving into pressure by the international community while the United Nations stopped short of imposing an oil embargo.
Yet, erratic North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not the only risk factor in this extremely delicate situation on the Korean Peninsula. Adding fuel to the situation is U.S. President Donald Trump. He has mocked Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man” in his United Nations speech last month and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea. In response, Ri Yong Ho, North Korea’s Foreign Minister, warned that the next step would be detonating a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.
Trump, who harshly criticized former President Barack Obama’s strategic patience policy, also said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” in trying to negotiate with North Korea after Tillerson acknowledged that Trump administration was probing the North’s willingness to talk. It also seems that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump are on the same page on this issue. Abe accused North Korea at the United Nations in the harshest terms and even used the North’s continuous provocation as one of the reasons to call a snap election on Oct. 22.
The club is inviting Narushige Michishita, director of the Security and International Studies Program at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and Katsuhisa Furukawa, who monitored the implementation of the UN sanctions against North Korea as a member of the Panel of Experts at the UN. The two experts will analyze the current situation that seem to have no answer, including the moves by the Japanese and the U.S. governments as well as the United Nations and their scenarios.
Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website (still & TV cameras inclusive). The charge for members/members' guest is 1,750/2,700 yen; non-members eligible to attend may pay in cash by e mail reservation (front@fccj.or.jp). (Menu:grilled chicken with rock salt & lime) Reservations canceled less than one hour in advance for working press members, and 24 hours for all others, will be charged in full. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation. For meal service, please enter the room by 12:25.
Professional Activities Committee
Narusｈige Michishita Katsuhisa Furukawa