TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio pledged again to strive further to realize a Japan-North Korea summit when he met with family members of victims of North Korea’s abductions Friday.
“We will work more to communicate with North Korea, with the understanding and cooperation of the United States,” Kishida said when a group of abductees’ families voiced hopes for the early realization of a Tokyo-Pyongyang summit.
When members of the group visited the United States in late April, they briefed senior Department of State officials and senators about their policy of not opposing a possible lifting of Japan’s sanctions against North Korea if all abductees are returned to Japan together immediately.
Takuya Yokota, leader of the abductee family group, said that the group was able to gain understanding from those they met, and that the group wants Japan to utilize the development in negotiations for a summit with North Korea. He is a younger brother of Megumi, who was abducted by North Korea in 1977 when she was 13.
Kishida responded that he will keep Yokota’s words firmly in mind, promising to continue high-level negotiations under his direct control in order to realize the summit.
After his meeting with Kishida, Yokota told the press that the group will not accept any partial or gradual solution and that it wants Tokyo to face Pyongyang in a strong attitude without changing its request for the immediate return of all victims to Japan.
The meeting, held at the prime minister’s office, was joined by Chief Cabinet Secretary HAYASHI Yoshimasa, also minister in charge of the abduction issue, and members of a nonpartisan group of lawmakers on the issue.
JIJI Press