Japan to seek N. Korea’s concrete actions after landmark summit

April 28, 2018

Tokyo- Following a landmark inter-Korean summit on Friday, the Japanese government plans to urge North Korea to take concrete steps for completely denuclearizing the country and scrapping its missile program, and resolving its abductions of Japanese nationals decades ago.

After hearing details of the results of the summit from the South Korean government, Japan aims to seek progress on the abduction issue through cooperation with the United States and South Korea, sources familiar with the situation said.

While keeping in close touch with the administration of US President Donald Trump ahead of a possible US-North Korea summit that may be held by early June, Tokyo hopes to continue working closely with Washington and Seoul so that the abduction issue, a matter of particular importance for Japan, will not be left behind, the sources said.

Japan will also explore the possibility of holding direct talks with North Korea, the sources said.

"I welcome the inter-Korean summit as a positive move for comprehensively resolving various issues," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in the border village of Panmunjom earlier in the day in the first summit between the two Koreas in about 11 years.

"I strongly hope that North Korea will take concrete actions based on the day's summit and the expected Trump-Kim meeting," he said, reiterating Japan's policy of urging Pyongyang to denuclearize itself in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and dismantle its missile program.

Abe suggested that he expects to hold telephone talks with Moon on Saturday at the earliest.

Abe said that he will hear details of Friday's summit from Moon, adding that he also hopes to continue closely communicating with Trump.

In a statement on Friday, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono urged North Korea to scrap all of its weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, and ballistic missiles of all ranges. He thus called for the elimination of North Korea's short- and intermediate-range missiles capable of reaching Japan.

"North Korea took a major step forward" for denuclearization, Kono told reporters at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, the same day. "I think there will be various moves (related to the abduction issue) from now," he added. Kono was at the airport to take a flight for a trip to Jordan.

In their Panmunjom declaration, adopted at the inter-Korean summit, Moon and Kim confirmed a common goal of realizing a Korea Peninsula free of nuclear weapons through complete denuclearization and their intention to declare an end to the 1950-1953 Korean War by the end of this year.

The statement made no reference to the abduction issue, while it is not known at the moment whether the two leaders discussed the matter at the summit. Some in the Japanese government are therefore skeptical whether North Korea will take concrete actions.

North Korea broke its promises, including on denuclearization, after the past two inter-Korean summits and six-party nuclear talks among the two Koreas, Japan, the United States, China and Russia.

In this regard, Abe said that Japan will consider its response after comparing the day's Panmunjom declaration with past statements.

Japan is set to call on the international community to keep maximum pressure on North Korea until denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula is achieved, informed sources said. Jiji Press