Article: POLITICS-JAPAN: NORTH KOREA TOPS NEW PRIME MINISTER'S AGENDA.

by John Feffer

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Many foreign policy challenges lie ahead for Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, but his most pressing concern is much closer at hand: North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test Oct. 9.

Since then, Japan has been lobbying for strong United Nations-backed sanctions and implemented even stronger unilateral measures. This has now acquired urgency in Japan's foreign policy environment, where officials are looking at China as an economic competitor and potential military challenge, and amid questions about Tokyo's support for U.S. policies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Prime Minister Abe is ...

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