Abe Voices Resolve to Meet Kim for Abduction Breakthrough

September 13, 2018

Vladivostok, Russia- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his determination Wednesday to realize a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a breakthrough on North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago.

"I am determined for us to take steps toward settling the unfortunate past with North Korea and normalizing our relations," Abe said in his speech at an Eastern Economic Forum session in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.

"I too must break the shell of mutual distrust, take a step forward, and ultimately meet with Chairman Kim Jong Un," he said.

The prime minister added, however, that "nothing has been decided" on the envisioned meeting with the North Korean leader.

Abe urged North Korea to seize the opportunity opened by the June 12 summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

He also voiced hope that an inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang next week "will lead to concrete actions toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

On Japan-China relations, Abe said he plans to visit China within this year, which marks the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of a bilateral peace and amity treaty. He also expressed a wish to invite Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan subsequently.

"Through this exchange of visits at the leaders' level, I hope to raise Japan-China relations to a new stage," Abe said.

On negotiations between Japan and Russia to resolve a territorial dispute over four Russian-held islands called the Northern Territories in Japan and conclude a peace treaty that formally ends the two countries' World War hostilities, Abe showed his resolve to settle the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We are both fully aware that it will not be easy. However, we have a duty to future generations," Abe said, referring to "the duty to completely clear away from Northeast Asia the postwar scenes and change the future to one truly filled with hope." Jiji Press