At the 144th GRIPS Forum on November 13th, 2017, Mr. MITOJI YABUNAKA ,Former Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Professor, Ritsumeikan University, gave a lecture titled “North Korea’s nuclear development and Japan” .

Speakers’ Profile:

Entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 1969 and served at the Embassy of Japan in South Korea, Indonesia and the U.S. After becoming Director of the Second North America Division, North American Affairs Bureau(specializing in US-Japan economic friction), he was a Senior Researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies(IISS) in London. Subsequently, he became the Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Japan in Geneva, Director of the General Affairs Division of the Foreign Minister’s Secretariat, and Deputy Director-General of the Asian Affairs Bureau. Then he served as the Consul-General of Japan at Chicago. In 2002, he was appointed as the Director-General of the Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau and took part the role of the chief representative of the Japanese Government at the Six-Party Talks on the North Korea nuclear issue. He then became the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and served as a G8 summit Sherpa. He also became the chief negotiator of the Economic Partnership Agreement with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. In 2008, he was appointed as the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. Following the retirement in 2010, he is currently Professor at the Ritsumeikan University and Osaka University. His books include Economic Negotiations with the United States, Destiny of a Nation, The Path of Japan and New horizon of the Japan-U.S. Relations in the Trump Era.