British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reportedly told his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe that Japan's decision to resume commercial whaling was "disappointing." The remark was made when they met for the first time as prime ministers, during the Group of Seven summit in France, according to the Aug. 26 edition of The Telegraph.
Why did Johnson raise the issue of whaling now? The voices of hardliner environmentalists or certain media in the United Kingdom might have convinced the prime minister to reluctantly express disappointment to Abe. Of course, all politics is local, if not a family affair, but that was populism and not statesmanship.
As for "disappointment," U.S. Secretary of States Mike Pompeo said on Aug. 22 that the United States was "disappointed to see" the South Korean decision to end its General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan. The intelligence-sharing pact was adopted in 2016 after years of negotiations between Tokyo and Seoul.