Nuclear development proceeding in North Korea
The president's had some notable successes, including the Iran nuclear deal and arms control reduction treaty with Russia. But he's not been able to make additional progress with Vladimir Putin.

And right in Japan's backyard, you have nuclear development proceeding in North Korea.

Question: I don't get the last sentence, could you please elaborate more on this? Excuse me for being so ignorant of politics :((

Question

Nuclear development proceeding in North Korea
The president's had some notable successes, including the Iran nuclear deal and arms control reduction treaty with Russia. But he's not been able to make additional progress with Vladimir Putin.

And right in Japan's backyard, you have nuclear development proceeding in North Korea.

Question: I don't get the last sentence, could you please elaborate more on this? Excuse me for being so ignorant of politics :((

Answer

This is saying that Japan (or any other nation) has not stopped North Korea (DPRK) from creating nuclear weapons.

If you don't understand the term 'backyard', it means the nearby area (so 'Japan's backyard' means the area nearby to Japan). 'You have nuclear development proceeding' means that there is a production of nuclear weapons happening in North Korea, and it is continuing ('proceeding' meaning continuing).

I don't know if this helps, sorry if it doesn't.

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