INTERVIEW: Suga Believes Japan-N. Korea Abduction Talks to Be Held

August 8, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government is confident that North Korea will eventually come to the negotiation table over the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korean spies decades ago, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in an interview with Jiji Press on Tuesday.

"We've clarified our readiness to provide North Korea with economic assistance after comprehensively resolving the nuclear, missile and abduction issues and normalizing diplomatic relations," Suga said.

"We're trying to inform Pyongyang of this stance through various channels," he noted, referring to a brief conversation Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono had with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong Ho, in Singapore Friday night.

"As our position is clear, North Korea will certainly lean toward talks," the top government spokesman said. "It's important for us not to hurry but to steadily assert our position."

But he declined to specify when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the issue.

As for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Suga underscored the importance of keeping pressuring North Korea into scrapping its nuclear program.

On the domestic front, he said the government has yet to decide on when to announce the name of a new Japanese era that will start upon Crown Prince Naruhito's accession to the throne on May 1, 2019.

"The announcement's effects on people's lives should be considered carefully," Suga said.

Asked about the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in September, in which Abe aims to win a third term as LDP president to stay on as prime minister, Suga emphasized the importance of continuing the Abenomics economic policy and maintaining the momentum toward improving Japan-China relations.

On the issue of the introduction of the daylight saving time as a measure to reduce heat exposure during the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Suga said, "There are various opinions and I'll take them into account." Jiji Press