A senior Japanese official on Tuesday welcomed U. S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 19
NEW YORK – A senior Japanese official on Tuesday welcomed U. S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s in his address to the U. N. General Assembly.
Trump’s speech reflects “deeper understanding” in the United States about the abduction issue, a high-priority issue for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura told journalists on the fringes of the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.
“I think it means an understanding (about the issue) has gotten through” to the United States and other countries, Nishimura said. “We earned understanding from President Trump, who quoted the issue in the speech.”
Japan will continue to do its best in resolving the abduction issue while also addressing Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, he said.
Trump condemned North Korea’s human rights record during his first general debate address at the General Assembly, which included a reference to Pyongyang’s abduction of Megumi Yokota, one of the abductees who was taken from Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast while on her way home from school in 1977.
