Top News Making Sense of the August Fizzle in the US-North Korea Negotiations The Diplomat New US Sanctions on Russia Come Into Effect Voice of America Iran expects remaining nuclear deal partners to act faster to preserve it: Rouhani Reuters East Asia Rift Grows Between U.S. Allies Over North Korea’s Nuclear Threat Bloomberg8/28/2018 One longstanding U.S. ally still thinks North Korea poses an urgent nuclear threat. Another is steadily increasing economic ties with the regime. And Kim Jong Un is doing his best to exploit the divide. Japan Wary of North Korean Military Threat Despite Summit Pledge Time8/28/2018 Japan needs to bolster its missile defenses and its alliance with the United States, its government stressed Tuesday in an annual defense review that judged North Korea to still be a serious threat that has not taken concrete steps to denuclearize. U.S. Ally Japan Still Sees ‘Imminent’ Threat From North Korea Bloomberg8/27/2018 Count the U.S.’s closest ally in Asia among those unconvinced by President Donald Trump’s assurances North Korea is “no longer a nuclear threat” after his June summit with Kim Jong Un. North Korea warns Pompeo denuclearization talks are ‘at stake,’ sources say CNN8/28/2018 Top North Korean officials warned the United States in a letter that denuclearization talks are “again at stake and may fall apart,” sources familiar with the process told CNN. North Korean State Media Denounce U.S. as Diplomacy Stalls New York Times8/27/2018 North Korean state media criticized the United States over the weekend for “extremely provocative and dangerous military moves” in Pacific waters and warned that the diplomacy forged between the two countries’ leaders during their Singapore summit meeting in June could be in jeopardy. Making Sense of the August Fizzle in the US-North Korea Negotiations The Diplomat8/28/2018 July 2018 ended with reports that North Korea was still manufacturing intercontinental-range ballistic missiles. August 2018 now is poised to end with the U.S.-North Korea diplomatic process in disarray, as U.S. President Donald J. Trump, on Friday, decided to announce that contrary to weeks of expectations, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be heading to Pyongyang for another round of talks this week. Middle East Iran expects remaining nuclear deal partners to act faster to preserve it: Rouhani Reuters8/27/2018 Iran expects the remaining partners in its nuclear agreement to act quickly to preserve it, President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Russia/FSU/Europe New US Sanctions on Russia Come Into Effect Voice of America8/27/2018 New U.S. sanctions against Russia over a nerve agent attack in Britain come into effect Monday. Opinion and Analysis Please, no more knee-jerk decisions on North Korea The HillSoo Kim 8/27/2018 Last Friday, President Trump abruptly canceled Secretary Pompeo’s planned trip to North Korea — what would have been the secretary’s fourth Pyongyang visit to persuade the Kim regime to show some good-faith steps toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Some policy experts have pointed out that this decision was indicative of a lack of coordination on Washington’s North Korea game plan.