Prompted by concerns that the abduction issue might be neglected at international diplomatic tables, the Japanese government has begun considering the option of holding a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
As the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is expected to be the main issue at the inter-Korean summit as well as the U.S.-North Korea summit, the Japanese government is worried that the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea might fall by the wayside.
"At the Japan-U.S. summit, there will be detailed exchanges on issues that both sides are concerned with, including the North Korean issue," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference Monday.
A Japanese government official predicted issues to be dealt with at a meeting between Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled for mid-April, saying, "The prime minister is expected to tell U.S. President [Donald] Trump about the possibility of holding a Japan-North Korea summit."
Abe, who has placed the abduction issue as the "most important task" for his Cabinet, is inclined to pave the way to resolving the abduction issue by hosting the summit meeting with the North Korean leader.
With the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election looming in autumn, Abe also has an underlying motive in his desire for a recovery in the Cabinet approval rating, which has dropped because of the Finance Ministry's document-alteration scandal. Abe is seeking a third straight victory in the presidential election.
The Prime Minister's Office is expected to lead preparations for the Japan-North Korea summit. "There is a senior Japanese government official who has received a request from North Korea to visit the country for prior negotiations for the summit meeting," a source knowledgeable about the Japan-North Korean relations said.
However, North Korea has not changed its stance that the abduction issue has been resolved, making it uncertain whether the situation would move in the direction that the Japanese side is hoping. In the 2014 Stockholm agreement, Pyongyang promised it would conduct a reinvestigation on abductees. However, it announced in 2016 it would completely halt the reinvestigation.
Much of the public is cautious about the moves for a summit meeting, as reflected in a nationwide opinion poll conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun on March 31 and April 1. In the poll, 62 percent of respondents said Japan should carefully consider whether to hold a summit meeting with North Korea, greatly exceeding the 33 percent who said it should be held as early as possible.
The government plans to make a final decision after carefully scrutinizing whether the summit meeting could yield results on the abduction issue.
Abe also watching Russia, China
Taking advantage of being at the head of a long-running administration, Abe has been consistently working on such tasks as the northern territories issue with Russia and improving Japan-China relations. The prime minister hopes his efforts will yield results.
Abe plans to visit Russia in May and September. Through talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- the two leaders have already conducted 20 summit meetings before -- Abe seeks to make a breakthrough in the northern territories issue.
A senior Foreign Ministry official believes that Putin's reelection in the March presidential vote will be a tailwind to Japan, saying, "The ground is now ready for spending time on territorial negotiations."
However, as Russia regards the northern territories a key strategic point for sending a warning to the United States, there are views that it will be difficult to extract concessions from Russia on the issue.
Abe aims to realize reciprocal visits between himself and Chinese President Xi Jinping from 2018 to 2019 as a step to improving Japan-China relations. The government is making arrangements to host a trilateral meeting between Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae In in early May, hoping it would become a springboard in realizing the reciprocal visits with Xi. If realized, it would be Li's first visit to Japan.
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