Abe Voices Hope for U.S.-N. Korea Summit

May 28, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday expressed expectations for the realization of the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of the summit, which was planned to be held on June 12.

But Abe told the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan's parliament, that efforts to realize the summit have been reactivated.

"I strongly hope that the U.S.-North Korea summit will be realized as a meeting that will contribute to the problem-solving process," Abe said.

He stressed the need to make the summit an opportunity to make effective progress on the nuclear and missile issues and most importantly the problem of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago.

"I want to hold phone talks with President Trump at an early date, as soon as possible," the prime minister said.

Abe also said that North Korea's recent demolition of its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri will hopefully lead to concrete action by the country toward the dismantlement of all types of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

Regarding a reported plan for Abe to meet with Trump in the United States ahead of a Group of Seven summit in Canada in early June, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference, "We're considering various options, including on the occasion of the summit."

Also during the Upper House committee meeting, Abe said he plans to urge the United States to refrain from imposing new tariffs on automobile and auto parts imports. Trump's administration is mulling the introduction of new tariffs on national security grounds.

"Japanese automakers have been creating good-quality jobs in the United States and making substantial contributions to the U.S. economy," Abe said. "I want to urge U.S. officials to have an accurate understanding." Jiji Press