As tensions over Pyongyang’s weapons programmes rise, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida indicated on Tuesday that he was open to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Japan PM open meeting North Korean leader: Days after his administration publicly declared his desire for a summit, Kishida renewed the public offer at the UN General Assembly.
Kishida stated that Japan was willing to resolve all concerns with North Korea, including Pyongyang’s past abductions of Japanese citizens to train its agents, in a speech from the UN podium.
“I would like to convey my determination to meet with President Kim Jong Un face to face at any time without any conditions,” Kishida said. “From the perspective of opening up a new era together.”
According to him, he would “like to hold high-level talks under my direct supervision to realise a summit meeting at an early time.”
While in office, Japan’s former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi made a historic trip to Pyongyang in 2002, when he met with Kim Jong Il and outlined a plan for improving relations in which Japan would provide financial support.
Five Japanese citizens were returned as a result of the trip, and Koizumi made a follow-up trip. However, the diplomatic efforts failed, in part due to Tokyo’s worry that North Korea was concealing the identities of the kidnapping victims.
In 2006, North Korea conducted a nuclear test, ushering in a more combative stage. Because of Pyongyang’s latest missile testing, tensions have risen sharply.
President Joe Biden of the United States has also proposed discussions, although North Korea has showed little enthusiasm.
Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor, met with Kim three times and expressed respect for him, which is unusually personal.
The historic summits between the United States and North Korea, which never formally ended their 1950–1953 war, resulted in a decrease in tension but no long-term accord.