Abe Aims for Meeting with Trump around U.S.-N. Korea Summit

May 14, 2018

(UPDATE) Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed hopes on Monday that he will hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump soon before or after a U.S.-North Korea summit set for June 12.

At Budget Committee meetings of both chambers of Japan's parliament, Abe indicated that he wants to exchange views with Trump, who is slated to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, on responding to issues involving North Korea.

Talks between the Japanese and U.S. governments have floated proposals for Trump to make a stop in the U.S. state of Alaska or Hawaii on his way home from Singapore to hold talks with Abe, informed sources said.

"I'd like to proceed with preparations (for the Trump-Kim meeting) by communicating Japan's policy stances to the United States properly" at a Group of Seven summit set for June 8-9 in Canada and on other occasions, Abe said in parliament. "After the (Trump-Kim) meeting, I'd like to hear the outcome directly from Trump."

He also expressed his readiness to hold telephone talks with Trump as needed.

There are hopes within the Japanese government for a trip to Japan by Trump after the summit with Kim. A government source ruled out a Trump visit to Japan, however, saying it would be seen as Abe summoning the U.S. president.

Abe revealed that he has asked Chinese leaders to raise the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago in their talks with officials of the reclusive neighbor.

"In the end, the issue will not be resolved without Japan's own efforts. There will need to be a Japan-North Korea summit," he said.

But he stressed that any summit with North Korea "must lead to the resolution of the abduction issue."

The prime minister said he hopes that a schedule will be decided for the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles and that they will be scrapped in a short period.

He underscored the need to get rid of not only nuclear warheads but also production facilities for plutonium and enriched uranium.

Japan and the United States are holding specific discussions on a time frame for the dismantlement, Abe said. But he did not elaborate.

An opposition party lawmaker noted that the United States may allow North Korea to continue to possess short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which are capable of hitting Japan. He urged Abe to promise that Japan will not relax its sanctions against North Korea until it scraps such missiles.

Abe declined to give a clear answer, however. Noting that Japan is holding serious negotiations with the aim of resolving the abduction issue, Abe said, "We can't reveal all our cards."

In the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, Abe said he supports efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to conclude a proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, free trade agreement also involving other Asia-Pacific economies by year-end.

Separately, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said he cannot help but say the United States' recent decision to pull out of the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers was "very regrettable." Jiji Press