With North Korea being removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, Japan will be forced to be more proactive in trying to resolve the emotional abduction dispute.
Tokyo can no longer depend on its closest ally and faces raised hurdles in pressing its case at the six-party nuclear talks, but Japanese leaders reacted calmly Sunday, with Prime Minister Taro Aso dismissing concerns that it would mean a loss of leverage against North Korea.
But there is likely to be growing pressure from the public, especially the families of the missing abductees, that the government step up its diplomatic efforts in dealing with North Korea, including pressuring Pyongyang to act on a promise to start reinvestigating the abduction cases by the end of fall, political analysts said.