Earlier this week, South Korean envoy Suh Hoon visited Tokyo to brief Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the fast-moving diplomatic process that saw an announcement of a historic US-North Korea summit to discuss Pyongyang's denuclearisation.
Japan Times: Japan to explore possibility of summit between Abe and Kim Jong Un, sources say
The government plans to explore the possibility of a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as it considers adopting a new way of dealing with Pyongyang, government sources said Tuesday.
The decision came after Abe and other officials were briefed by Suh Hoon, one of the South Korean envoys who spoke with Kim in breakthrough talks in Pyongyang last week.
While the Abe administration has long advocated a cautious stance in holding dialogue with North Korea, it now anticipates there is a fresh chance to make progress toward resolving the issue of North Korea’s abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, the sources said.
“If we’re to resolve the abduction issue, direct dialogue with the top — Mr. Kim Jong Un — is essential,” a source at Abe’s office said.
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Update #1: Japan's Abe weighing talks with North Korea's Kim: reports (AFP)
Update #2: Japan considers seeking summit between PM Abe and North Korea leader - source (Channel News Asia/Reuters)
WNU Editor: The Japanese are not the priority for the North Koreans right now.
