Author: Koji Murata, Doshisha University, Kyoto

On October 11, the Bush Administration finally removed North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. This pre-planned move reflects the frustration of the Bush Administration in its efforts to achieve a diplomatic success before it completely loses influence following the November 4 presidential election. The fact that it was only 30 minutes before the official announcement that US President George W. Bush actually picked up the phone to notify Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso reminds me of how Richard Nixon let Prime Minister Eisaku Sato know about his visit to Beijing 37 years ago (the latter notification was made only three minutes before the official announcement).

Let me repeat that this US move was long anticipated. Much more important now is the next administration’s policy toward North Korea. For the time being, Barack Obama or John McCain, whichever is elected, will be preoccupied with handling the financial crisis. There is a simple dichotomy in Japan in which Republicans are seen as pro-Japanese while the Democrats are regarded as pro-China. However, given McCain’s age – even if elected, he could be a one-term president – a McCain administration would have less time to develop a robust North Korea policy and could have its time eaten up by Pyongyang’s continuous bluff-calling.

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