The government is keeping mum on a secret visit to North Korea by one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisers after Pyongyang revealed it to the United States and South Korea.
We "can't reasonably explain" the visit because it was supposed to be kept secret, a government source said. Tokyo has been working with Washington and Seoul to get Pyongyang to drop its nuclear and missile threats.
Some observers are speculating that Japan was duped by a North Korean ploy aimed at undermining international efforts to put pressure on it. Footage of the adviser, Isao Iijima, meeting with North Korean officials was aired on TV right from the beginning of his trip.