The ISE Salon Special Study Session was held by inviting President Lu Zhong wei of The China Institute of Contemporary International Relations. President Lu spoke about the way in which Japanese-Chinese and Japanese-US relations and the relations among the various countries of Northeast Asia may change from now on by referring to some of the most recent examples. He shed light on various developments from various aspects that are normally not easy to get to know. Thus he mentioned that there is a shimmer of hope in the economic situation of North Korea. He also spoke of the initiative made by the Chinese government in the Northeast Asian region at the six-nation conference held at the same time. There was also a barrage of questions from the participants, and interest was so intense that the schedule time was exceeded.