Victor D. Cha - The Japan Times

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Victor D. Cha

For Victor D. Cha's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / Japan

Dec 10, 2013

An opportunity for America in China's overreach

Recent Chinese posturing in the East China Sea makes the U.S. pivot to Asia only more welcome. If Washington responds shrewdly, Beijing stands to lose the longer-term contest for leadership.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 8, 2004

Libya lights way for a North Korean solution

WASHINGTON -- The six-party talks concluded in Beijing last month demonstrated incremental progress in resolving the 16-month crisis over North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs. For the causal observer, this outcome may not make sense. If the United States, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia agree that a nuclear North Korea is unacceptable, and North Korea appears willing to freeze its program in return for help from the outside world, then a deal should be workable, yes?

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 24, 2003

Responding to provocations

SINGAPORE -- In late February and early March, North Korea launched two antiship cruise missiles in the direction of Japan. Japan tried its best to downplay the events. In the first instance, it said the 90-km test did not technically violate the North's moratorium on ballistic-missile tests. After the second test, Tokyo said it had received advance notification from Pyongyang.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 25, 2002

Put America's Korea policy on track

WASHINGTON -- With South Korea's critical presidential election decided, the Bush administration's Korea policy is in need of a midcourse correction.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 10, 2002

Isolate Pyongyang if it doesn't come clean

WASHINGTON -- In June 1994, as the United States and North Korea stepped back from the brink of war over the North's nuclear weapons program, a moderate consensus in the U.S, South Korean, Japanese and Chinese governments applauded the Agreed Framework for averting a crisis through dialogue and negotiation.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 22, 2002

North Korea's last gambit

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's surprise announcement of a secret nuclear-weapons program has thrown cold water on a recent warming of relations with South Korea and Japan that included family reunions, rejuvenated economic cooperation and, in particular, a stunning admission of past misdeeds against Japanese citizens. In a similar vein, some have argued that this new nuclear revelation is North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's perverse but typical way of creating crisis to pull a reluctant Bush administration into serious dialogue.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 13, 2002

Handshakes may not soften U.S. line

WASHINGTON -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trip to North Korea next Tuesday is, in many ways, a double-edged sword. At first glance, the trip appears to be a positive development. In what has become the norm in Asian diplomacy of late, the surprise announcement reflects positively on Japan's attempts to play a leadership role in the region.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

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