Japanese PM says ready to meet Kim Jong Un to end abduction dispute

Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed her readiness to hold direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un aimed at achieving the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean intelligence in the 1970s.

Takaichi made the remarks as she attended a national rally in Tokyo, noting that she has already conveyed her intention for such talks to Pyongyang, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

“I want to make a breakthrough and resolve the abduction issue during my term,” she said, emphasising her determination to personally engage with Kim to achieve progress.

PM added that resolving the issue would serve the interests of all parties involved, including Japan, North Korea, and the broader international community.

Takaichi noted that she hopes to achieve concrete results by facing Kim and taking the lead in acting boldly.

The issue of abducted citizens remains one of the most sensitive in relations between the two countries, which have no diplomatic ties.

In 2002, Pyongyang admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese nationals and allowed five of them to return home.

The others were declared dead, and their remains sent to Japan, though their authenticity could not be verified.

In May 2014, the two governments agreed to conduct a new investigation into the abductions, but the commission in charge was later dissolved at Pyongyang’s initiative.

By Jeyhun Aghazada