Confronting North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs: American and Japanese views of threats and options compared

North Korea is set to remain a top concern during 2018, as the Trump administration continues to grapple with options to persuade North Korea to change course, including reportedly “military options.” The threats posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs affect millions of people in the region and around the world, but among the nations most affected is Japan. How do the Japanese and American publics view the threats and the options available to deal with them, including military options?

Two new polls – one in Japan, carried out by Japan’s The Genron NPO, and one in the United States, carried out by the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll with Nielsen Scarborough – probed Japanese and American attitudes, asking identical questions.

On January 8, the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence and the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings convened a panel of experts to discuss the new polling data in addition to considering South Korean public attitudes, as well as to further examine the policy options available to the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the world in addressing the North Korean threat. Panelists included: Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, and nonresident senior fellow at Brookings; Yasushi Kudo, president of The Genron NPO; Richard Bush, senior fellow at Brookings; and Brookings Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, who moderated and also added his perspective.

Following their conversation, panelists took audience questions.