Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his administration are apparently preparing for a long wait before a Japan-North Korea summit becomes a reality. Government o
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his administration are apparently preparing for a long wait before a Japan-North Korea summit becomes a reality.
Government officials are believed to be skeptical that the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea decades ago can be resolved anytime soon, due chiefly to the little progress made in negotiations between the United States and North Korea.
“We don’t have an optimistic view that the talks will be concluded in one or two months,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura said on television on Monday, suggesting that there is little chance of a bilateral summit taking place this autumn.
After U. S. President Donald Trump brought up the issue of Japanese abductees during his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, many Japanese government officials became optimistic that a summit between Japan and North Korea could be on the cards.
In the wake of the Trump-Kim meeting, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry said it would not be surprising for a Japan-North Korea summit to take place on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, to be held in Russia in September.
