Northeast Asia

It’s a strange proposition: You’re asking [Japanese] voters to vote for the Party of Hope, while the face of the party [Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike] is not a contender to occupy the top position.

[North Korea has used its nuclear and missile tests to] establish strategic relevance in the region. We can’t underestimate how North Korea was devastated during the Korean War, so the Kim family’s goal is to ensure the country’s survival, but also their own survival. [Their missile program] was for all of those things — deterring the U.S., deterring South Korea, deterring Japan.