North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sudden announcement Saturday that his country had suspended nuclear and longer-range missile tests and shut down its main atomic test site to focus on its sanctions-hit economy may have caught the U.S. and Japan off guard, but experts say it is unlikely to deepen any rifts between the allies ahead of a landmark summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
As the White House gears up for the first-ever meeting between a sitting American president and a North Korean supreme leader, Tokyo had been pushing its top ally to recognize its concerns and present them at the summit, slated for late May or June, for talks on the North's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been especially worried that, despite his "bromance" with Trump, the mercurial U.S. leader might seal a deal that effectively leaves Japan in the lurch.