"I think the Japanese government wasn't planning on making Mr. Iijima's visit open it was supposed to be behind-the-scenes but the North went ahead and publicized it, " said Lee Young Hwa, professor at Kansai University in Osaka.
That will give him some cover to announce the restarting of the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture, which powers the Kansai industrial region of which Osaka is the heart.