Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday she has requested to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang decades ago.
After years of denial, North Korea admitted in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, who were used to train Pyongyang’s spies in Japanese language and customs.
Tokyo believes North Korea abducted at least 17 Japanese nationals, while others say many more might have been taken to Pyongyang.
Takaichi told an awareness event on the issue in Tokyo that she had requested a summit meeting with Kim Jong Un.
“In order to build a new, fruitful relationship between Japan and North Korea, I am resolved to meet face-to-face with Chairman Kim Jong Un,” she said.
Pyongyang has not yet publicly responded to Takaichi’s request.
Several Japanese leaders have tried — but so far failed — to hold direct talks with Kim over the issue.
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Pyongyang in 2002 and 2004, where he met with the North’s then-leader Kim Jong Il, father of Kim Jong Un, and negotiated the return of five of the victims.
The North claimed at the time that the remaining eight were dead.
Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, suggested setting up liaison offices in Tokyo and Pyongyang to move the issue forward, but they were never materialized.
Meanwhile, Japan has courted the United States, and especially President Donald Trump, in order to maintain international attention on the subject.
Trump met with the families of Japanese abducted during a visit to Tokyo last week.
“I will use any means necessary for this issue, with the lives of the victims and our national sovereignty at stake,” Takaichi said.
“The abduction issue is the priority of my cabinet,” she added, echoing the pledges of past prime ministers.
AFP