Abe sent personal letters to Kim Jong Un: South Korean paper

November 13, 2019

Seoul--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent his personal letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un between May and September, proposing holding a summit between them, a major South Korean daily reported Wednesday.

Shotaro Yachi, then head of the secretariat for Japan's National Security Secretariat, was sent to Pyongyang as Abe's special envoy three times in the period to deliver the letters, The Chosun Ilbo said, citing a South Korean intelligence source.

At a press conference in Tokyo the same day, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga flatly denied the South Korean media report. "There's no such fact," he said.

At the same time, the top government spokesman reiterated that there is "no change" in Tokyo's readiness to face North Korea unconditionally.

In May, Abe declared his willingness to have talks with the North Korean leader without preconditions, changing his administration's previous stance of demanding progress in settling the issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea as a condition for such talks.

In the face of the Japanese leader's criticism of a recent series of North Korean missile launches, however, Pyongyang is hardening its stance toward Abe's summit offer.

In a statement last week, Song Il Ho, North Korea's envoy for diplomatic normalization with Japan, denounced Abe as an "idiot and villain" for "making fuss" about the missile launches.

"Abe would be well-advised not to dream forever of crossing the threshold of Pyongyang," Song said.Jiji Press