Abe, Xi welcome Inter-Korean accord on complete denuclearization

May 5, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first-ever telephone talks on Friday, giving a high mark to the accord at the inter-Korean summit last week on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Then the Japanese and Chinese leaders agreed to keep collaborating to work out North Korean missile and nuclear problems and resolve the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean spies decades ago.

The Japanese government proposed holding the telephone summit, which lasted about 40 minutes, ahead of a US-North Korea summit expected to be held by early June.

"We agreed to lift the Japan-China relationship, which made a new start, to a higher level," Abe told reporters.

According to Japanese officials, Abe told Xi that there has been no change in Japan's stance of normalizing its diplomatic ties with North Korea after resolving pending issues including the abductions based on the bilateral 2002 Pyongyang Declaration.

The officials also said the two leaders shared the view that UN sanctions resolutions against the North should be implemented fully. The Chinese side, however, did not mention the topic when briefing the talks.

Abe and Xi also exchanged views on bilateral relations.

When Abe praised the phone talks as a very favorable development, Xi said they symbolize the recent positive change in Sino-Japanese ties, sources with access to the talks said.

They agreed to talk over the phone whenever necessary, the sources added. Jiji Press