Abe win points to continued pressure on N. Korea – and Japan's pacifist Constitution

In the hours after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan early on the morning of Aug. 29, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe started calming a frightened nation. 

Speaking on national television, the prime minister told viewers that he “was prepared to take all measures to protect people’s lives.” He said his government had “lodged a firm protest” to Pyongyang and requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

It was the kind of reassurance many people in Japan had wanted to hear: tough, but not bellicose. When the North Koreans hurled another missile over Japan a month later, Prime Minister Abe issued another strong rebuke.Meanwhile, his approval rating rose