The U. S. ambassador to Japan on Tuesday met the families of people abducted by North Korea decades ago to train its spies, just a week before Japan’s prime minister is expected to raise the emotive topic at a summit with U. S. President Donald Trump. The issue is
The U. S. ambassador to Japan on Tuesday met the families of people abducted by North Korea decades ago to train its spies, just a week before Japan’s prime minister is expected to raise the emotive topic at a summit with U. S. President Donald Trump.
The issue is a top domestic priority for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose support has been undermined by scandals over suspected cronyism and cover-ups.
But Japan worries it could take a back seat to nuclear and missile issues in a series of summits planned with North Korea.
North Korea admitted in 2002 it had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s to train as spies, and five of them returned to Japan. Abe has said he will not rest until all 13 have come home, making the issue a keystone of his political career.
In an apparent nod to Japan’s concerns, U. S. Ambassador William Hagerty and his wife met abductees‘ family members, including Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was snatched from a beach as a teenager 40 years ago.
