Abe, 4 Other G-7 Leaders Agree to Cooperate over N. Korea

June 10, 2018

Charlevoix, Canada- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday agreed with each of his counterparts from four other Group of Seven member nations to continue to closely cooperate for realizing the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.

At their separate meetings with Abe in Charlevoix, eastern Canada, Justin Trudeau of Canada, Italy's Giuseppe Conte, Britain's Theresa May and Germany's Angela Merkel also guaranteed their countries' support for Japan's effort to resolve promptly the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese citizens, according to Japanese officials.

The series of bilateral meetings took place on the sidelines of the Charlevoix summit of the G-7 major industrialized countries, also including the United States and France.

Abe agreed with Trudeau, the summit's host, and Merkel that multilateral trade based on World Trade Organization rules should be maintained, at a time when the United States is leaning toward protectionist measures under President Donald Trump.

Abe and Conte, who took office only on June 1, affirmed the importance of cooperation among the G-7 members, as stormy debates are expected over trade issues at the two-day summit through Saturday.

The Japanese and Italian leaders also agreed to visit each other's country at an early date. Jiji Press