North Korea Threatening

Japan is deploying ships and a surveillance plane to the Sea of Japan amid signs that North Korea may be preparing to test a missile capable of reaching Japan. In case anyone doubts how crazy the North Koreans are, this paragraph tells it all:

"...the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun warned Japan that its military cooperation with the United States 'would serve as a detonating fuse to turn Japan into a nuclear sea of fire,' the official Korean Central News Agency reported."

In the wake of this type of rhetoric and the very real possibility that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, it becomes increasingly likely that the Japanese will soon abandon their own constitutional commitment to remain nuclear free. Indeed, one of the final diplomatic cards the U.S. can play in this game is to officially drop any objections we may have to Japan and South Korea developing and deploying nuclear weapons in their own self-defense. Perhaps that would be enough to drive home to all parties the grave importance of resolving this situation.