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.
Koizumi appears to be taking on the thorny problem of North Korea at a time when the fate of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's "sunshine policy" remains uncertain at the end of his presidency and U.S. ambivalence about engaging North Korea remains quite high. Though Koizumi is reported to have caucused with President George W. Bush prior to the announcement, one could also see the trip as another veiled effort by the region to persuade the United States to soften its hardline approach to North Korea.
Combined with Kim Jong Il's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the persistent entreaties by Beijing and Seoul, Koizumi's trip could be seen as another voice in the regional chorus for Bush to get on the engagement bandwagon traversing the Korean Peninsula.