LDP Nikai seeks Russia’s cooperation over abduction issue

April 28, 2018

Moscow- Japanese ruling party heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai, at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, sought Moscow's cooperation in resolving the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals decades ago.

Russia hopes that the issue will be resolved through negotiations, Medvedev replied, touching on a landmark summit the same day between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Nikai, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Medvedev also discussed exchange programs for the LDP and Medvedev-led United Russia, the ruling party of Russia. The two parties signed a cooperation pact after the Nikai-Medvedev meeting, held in a Moscow suburb.

Medvedev sounded positive on Nikai's call for his visit to Japan, according to the LDP official.

Nikai's visit to Russia is intended to lay the groundwork for a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, slated for late May in Russia, and help promote bilateral territorial negotiations over four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan.

The islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. The longstanding territorial dispute has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities.

Nikai will move on to Turkey on Sunday and return home on Tuesday. Jiji Press