Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga delivered his first address at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday (JST) in a prerecorded video in which he pledged to resolve the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals.
Suga, speaking in Japanese, also stated that Japan will continue developing drugs and promoting support for developing countries as measures against the novel coronavirus.
The assembly was held in New York on Friday local time and it was the first time for Suga to participate in an international conference as prime minister.
Under normal conditions, a prime minister visits the United States to deliver a speech at the U.N. Headquarters, but Suga's debut was made by video due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Referring to the deaths of some of the parents of those who were abducted by North Korea, including Megumi Yokota's father Shigeru Yokota, Suga said, "It is heartbreaking to imagine the pain of the family members who passed, after working so hard to rescue their dearest children and yet not achieving a reunion in the end." He said he was ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without any conditions to resolve the issue.
Regarding measures against COVID-19, Suga called for the international community to unite in solidarity to "turn the current crisis into an opportunity to reinforce our cooperation."
He introduced Japan's efforts toward that end, such as proposing a framework of "patent pooling," in which patent rights are held internationally so that treatments and vaccines are also made available to developing countries. He also emphasized the fact that Japan is providing 170 billion yen in foreign aid to the medical and health sectors.
In addition, Suga said Japan is determined to host the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer "as proof that humanity has defeated the pandemic."
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