Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Japanese government plans to reach out to North Korean officials in Mongolia next week, to propose a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, report Japanese media, citing government sources.
Abe said he wanted to meet Kim "unconditionally", easing his previous position. Previously, the premer stated that the prerequisite for a summit would be Pyongyang's rapprochement with Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean intelligence agents in the 1970s and 1980s. US President Donald J. Trump - who met Kim twice for the negotiations on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula - said he supported an Abe-Kim summit during this week's state visit to Tokyo.
According to media sources, Japanese officials are hoping to talk to North Korean diplomats on the sidelines of a security conference in Northeast Asia, which will be held from June 5 to 6 in Ulaan Bataar. The conference will represent a rare opportunity for Japanese and North Korean officials, as these countries do not have formal diplomatic relations. Japan is expected to send a senior official from the Foreign and Asian Affairs Office to the conference, while North Korea could send a deputy foreign minister.
