April 30, Monday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. The Japanese government says it will closely cooperate with the United States and South Korea to achieve progress on North Korean matters.
  2. North Korea’s state-run media says the country will return to the same time zone as South Korea on May 5th.
  3. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has arrived in the United Arab Emirates on the first leg of a 5-day tour of the Middle East.

April 29, Sunday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

  1. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he and U.S. President Donald Trump have reaffirmed that North Korea must take concrete action toward denuclearization. They say they will closely watch its moves.
  2. South Korea’s presidential office says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told President Moon that a nuclear test site in the North will be scrapped in May.
  3. Prime Minister Abe has started his Middle East tour to strengthen relationships with countries in the region from the viewpoint of energy security.

April 28, Saturday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. The issue of how North Korea will denuclearize has been left to a discussion at a summit between the United States and North Korea.
  2. U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed a determination to seek a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through his upcoming summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
  3. Australia and Canada will dispatch military aircraft to a U.S. base in Japan to monitor illicit ship-to-ship transfers involving North Korean vessels.

April 26, Thursday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are set to meet on Friday at a facility on the South Korean side of the military demarcation line in the truce village of Panmunjom.
  2. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has expressed discontent over France’s new proposal on his country’s nuclear and missile development.
  3. The foreign ministers of Japan and Iran have agreed that Iran’s nuclear deal with 6 world powers must remain intact, with the United States upholding the deal.

April 25, Wednesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. Negotiations over the Iran nuclear deal continue after the U.S. president did not respond to a proposal by his French counterpart aimed at preserving the agreement.
  2. Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin has suggested the Japan-U.S. alliance is a hindrance to the development of his country’s ties with Japan.
  3. White House officials say the Trump administration plans to nominate the head of the U.S. military’s Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, to the post of the ambassador to South Korea.

April 24, Tuesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. U.S. Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan has called on the international community to keep pressure on North Korea until the country completes denuclearization.
  2. Japan’s government has approved the resignation of a top Finance Ministry bureaucrat who is at the center of a sexual harassment scandal.
  3. Finance Minister Taro Aso says the ministry will put off paying a retirement allowance to its top bureaucrat while a probe continues into allegations that he sexually harassed female reporters.

April 22, Sunday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

  1. Finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the International Monetary Fund policy-making body have warned of trade conflicts as downsize risks of the world economy.
  2. Japanese and the U.S. governments are planning to hold the first round of talks on a new framework to discuss bilateral trade and investment as early as June.
  3. The Japanese and Canadian foreign ministers have agreed to continue “maximum pressure” on North Korea besides the country’s pledge to suspend nuclear and missile launch tests.

April 21, Saturday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced that his country will suspend nuclear and missile tests from Saturday and will also shut down a nuclear test site.
  2. The defense chiefs of Japan and the United States have agreed to demand that North Korea abandon all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
  3. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 economies have agreed to aim for economic growth by promoting trade.