Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday said he would explain the nation’s stance on the North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens in a meeting with US President Donald Trump ahead of Trump’s planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The Japanese government worries the emotive matter of the abductees, which Abe has made a key issue during his political career, would take a back seat to nuclear and missile issues in the US-North Korean summit.
“I plan to visit the Unites States next month and have a summit meeting with President Trump and discuss the North Korean situation,” Abe said.
“In particular, I would like to explain Japan’s stance on the abduction issue,” he said during a meeting with family members of those abducted by North Korea decades ago.
North Korea admitted in 2002 it had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s to train as spies, and five of them were returned to Japan.
Tokyo suspects that hundreds more might have been taken.
TRIP TO CHINA
Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing this week, his first trip abroad since becoming leader in 2011.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to meet with Kim on April 27, followed by a planned summit with Trump in May, to try to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.
Japan wants to make sure Trump does not make a deal with Pyongyang that protects the US mainland, but leaves Japan vulnerable.
ABDUCTION TALKS
Japanese officials including Abe have left open the possibility that Abe might hold talks with Kim with a focus on the abductions, although diplomatic experts say that would likely be after seeing how the other summits play out.
“The missile and nuclear issues need to be negotiated among the parties concerned, especially between the United States and North Korea,” a former Japanese diplomat said on condition of anonymity. “We need to negotiate on bilateral issues and the abductions are the main thing.”
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