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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
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Japanese prime minister publicly supports realization of North Korea-US summit in Singapore
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he “very much look[s] forward to realization of the North Korea-US summit” amid discussions between Pyongyang and Washington to coordinate the upcoming meeting. It is the latest in a series of remarks from Abe that have gone back and forth with the changing outlook for the summit. “US President Donald Trump has stated that he is proceeding toward the holding of a North Korea-US summit on [June] 12th, and my understanding is that discussions are currently taking place between North Korea and the US,” Abe said at a May 28 Budget Committee meeting at the House of Councillors. “It is important to make the North Korea-US summit an opportunity to achieve progress with the nuclear and missile issues, and the paramount issue of abduction [of Japanese citizens to North Korea],” he added. “I very much look forward to realization of the North Korea-US summit as a meeting that contributes to resolving issues.” Shortly after Trump’s initial announcement canceling the North Korea-US summit, Abe replied during a visit to Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the morning of May 25 that he “support[s] President Trump’s decision.” Once it became apparent several hours later that Trump intended to reverse his cancellation of the summit, Abe commented on the afternoon of May 28 that the summit was “essential.” The turnaround to an unambiguously positive take on the summit came a day after Trump confirmed on the afternoon of May 27 that discussions were under way with North Korea to coordinate the June 12 summit in Singapore, while making repeated references to North Korea’s “economic prosperity.” Abe appears to be hoping to use the now “essential” North Korea-US summit as a way of seeing through Tokyo’s aims. “I have been coordinating closely with President Trump, and the positions and policies of Japan and the US are completely in accordance,” he said. “I hope to speak with President Trump by telephone as soon as possible in the near future. Our country will continue cooperating with the US and South Korea and coordinating closely with China and the rest of the international community to encourage concrete actions from North Korea to resolve issues.” Abe also reiterated his insistence on making the abandonment of North Korean biochemical weapons and intermediate-range missiles part of the North Korea-US summit agenda. Responding to questions on North Korea’s dismantlement of the Punggye Village nuclear test grounds last week, he said, “I hope this dismantlement leads to concrete steps toward the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement (CVID) of all [North Korean] weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of different ranges, and I will continue observing the situation closely.” In connection with this, Abe and Trump held a telephone conversation about the Singapore summit on May 28 and agreed to hold a bilateral summit before the event, the Kyodo news agency reported. After the conversation, Abe said the two leaders had agreed to cooperate on making the North Korea-US summit “meaningful.” Kyodo reported that the two appeared to have reaffirmed plans to continue applying maximum pressure on North Korea unless it takes concrete steps toward denuclearization. During the conversation, Abe also reportedly stressed the importance of the Japanese abductee issue and asked for it to be mentioned at the North Korea-US summit. Other Japanese news outlets reported that Abe is pushing to visit the US around June 6–7 for a bilateral summit ahead of the G7 meeting in Canada on June 8–9. No immediate information was made available on whether the summit agreed upon by Abe and Trump in their conversation would be a separate meeting at the White House or a bilateral meeting during the G7 meeting in Canada. By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
