North Korea and the US seem to step down from the brink and said they were ready for talks, but Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asserted that his country will not "allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons and laid out terms for engagement.

While a financially bankrupt North Korea is willing to talk but with a view to gain financial leverage, the US anticipates some diplomatic space so it can focus on the West Asian crisis. However, Japan, which feels threatened by the Pyongyang's loose canon regime now armed with nuclear weapons, fears that concessions made to North Korea will cause an unnecessary sacrifice of leverage in negotiations. Abe reminded that the resumption of the six-party talks "will have to be the first concrete step for North Korea to scrap its nuclear programmes." South Korea, which is the 3rd largest trading partner with the North cousins, and China are not so stringent in their demands and Russian opinion is closer to them than Japan and the US. However, the US and China seem to be working well together to show a united front to Pyongyang and Washington appears to be yielding diplomatic space for Beijing to run with the ball.

At least publicly, Pyongyang seems reluctant to give up its weapons saying that it did not create the weapons only to abandon them.