Japan’s Kishida Vows to Hold Talks with N. Korean Leader

On Saturday, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he wants to establish senior-level negotiations between Japan and North Korea in a bid to arrange a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at an early date on the return of Japanese abductees.

In his remarks to a rally in Tokyo seeking the return of Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North in the 1970s and 1980s, Kishida reiterated that he was committed to achieving unconditional talks with Kim "at the earliest possible opportunity."

Kishida added that his government would aim to arrange negotiations with Pyongyang "at a high level under my direct control" to pave the way for talks with Kim.

The Japanese government has officially determined that 17 of its citizens have been kidnapped by North Korea and suspects Pyongyang is involved in several other disappearances. And although five people were returned in 2002, the other 12 are still missing.

Kishida also told the meeting that establishing fruitful relations with Pyongyang would "be to the benefit of both sides and be an enormous contribution to regional stability and peace."

A government source noted that the prime minister had shown he was "ready to talk to North Korea".

With many of the families of the missing now elderly, the issue has become increasingly pressing under the premiership of Kishida, who will become prime minister in 2021.

In a policy shift indicating an increasing willingness to make concessions to achieve its goals, the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea said in February it would not oppose humanitarian aid to the country if it meant returning the abductees.