The issue of Japanese abductees from North Korea awaits the Kim Jong-un-Takaichi summit

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The issue of Japanese abductees from North Korea awaits the Kim Jong-un-Takaichi summit

Japanese government sources said on Tuesday that North Korea did not respond to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s proposal to hold a summit with leader Kim Jong Un.

This information came after Takaichi announced during a gathering in Tokyo yesterday that she had submitted the proposal as part of her efforts to resolve the issue of the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s, according to what was reported by Japan’s Kyodo News Agency. Chief Cabinet Secretary and Minister of Abductees Affairs, Minoru Kihara, declined to comment on the details of North Korea’s response, saying only that the Japanese government “is communicating with Pyongyang through multiple channels.”

The Japanese government officially lists 17 people as victims of kidnapping by North Korea, and is suspected of involvement in other disappearances. Five of them were returned to Japan in October 2002 after historic talks between then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. For its part, North Korea asserts that the kidnapping issue has been “settled,” while Tokyo stresses that it will do “everything in its power.” To ensure that all victims return to their countries as soon as possible.

During the gathering, Takaichi said that she wanted “frank dialogue” With Kim Jong Un, pledging to seek a “diplomatic breakthrough” During her term to end the case. In a series of diplomatic meetings last week within Japan and Asia, Takaichi requested the support of US President Donald Trump in dealing with the issue, and exchanged views with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the situation in North Korea. It is believed that it has also sought Beijing’s cooperation on this issue, although the prospects are unclear after the statement of Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, in March 2024 rejecting any new negotiations with Japan. The US-South Korean agency scheduled for next March.

The agency added that it had monitored preparations behind the scenes to hold a possible summit between Washington and Pyongyang in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum summit in South Korea last week, but it was not held. Trump met with Kim three times between 2018 and 2019 during his first term, but talks on denuclearization did not achieve progress. Since his return to the White House last January, he has repeatedly expressed his willingness to resume diplomacy with the North Korean leader.