Japan softens tone on North Korea, Russia in foreign policy report

The Japanese government removed a reference to applying maximum pressure on North Korea and stopped short of explicitly claiming ownership of a group of Russian-held islands in an annual foreign policy report released Tuesday.The conciliatory approach is apparently part of Japan's efforts to prod the two countries toward working to resolve respective outstanding issues -- the past abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents and the territorial dispute with Russia.In its Diplomatic Bluebook 2019, the Foreign Ministry said North Korea has not taken any substantive steps to give up …READ FULL ARTICLE