US President Barack Obama has stated that he wants to first talk about the North Korea nuclear test with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit to the US.

Obama has condemned the nuclear test as a "highly provocative act that undermines regional stability and violates North Korea's obligations under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions." The test will seriously undermine the hopes of the Obama administration for more engagement with North Korea under its young leader, Kim Jong-un.

There are many complicated issues in Northeast Asia, such as the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan, which also needs to be dealt with. But North Korea's nuclear test tops the agenda because the US is the most important stakeholder for the North Korean nuclear issue, and a nuclear North Korea is an urgent problem in dire need of being solved.

North Korea has suffered economic and commercial sanctions from the UN Security Council due to previous nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. The talks between Obama and Abe will further determine other sanctions against North Korea.

There is no doubt that Washington and Tokyo will take steps to punish North Korea for conducting the latest nuclear test, and it will likely be one of the most severe punishments the country has faced to date.

Moreover, during the summit, Japan and the US will set measures to pressure China to solve the North Korean issue, despite knowing that China alone is unable to ease up the worsening situation.

The worsening of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is linked to the effect of Japan-US alliance on Asia-Pacific dynamics.

It is reported that Japan and the US will talk about the review of The Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the aim of these guidelines is to create a solid basis for more effective and credible US-Japan cooperation.

The review of the guidelines is widely seen as targeting China. But at the current stage, it remains to be seen whether the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will be the real target.

This article was compiled by Global Times Reporter Zhao Nan, based on an interview with Lü Yaodong, director of the Department of Japanese Diplomacy in the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. zhaonan@globaltimes.com.cn