(26.3.2018) Japan is also increasingly being viewed as the odd man out as South Korean President Moon Jae-in has referred to the possibility of a trilateral summit involving Washington and Pyongyang.

Still, members of Abe’s ruling party on Monday were quick to dismiss this narrative, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono, for one, stressing that Tokyo is closely in touch with Washington and Seoul.

“The argument that Japan is being kept out of the loop completely misses the point,” he said.