When President Obama met Prime Minister Hatoyama of Japan in November 2009, a variety of contentious bilateral issues were on the table. However, despite divergence between the two countries on the military base issues in Okinawa and disagreement over Japan's emphasis on building an East Asian Community, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government will stay closely aligned with the United States in terms of its basic North Korea policy. Yoichiro Sato discusses the new Japanese government's policy toward North Korea.

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