Not wanting to feel left out, Japan PM Shinzo Abe also wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
Tokyo has expressed a desire to meet with North Korea, the Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday. The conversation could take place in June, after May’s anticipated sit-down between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump
Japan has sounded out the North Korean government about a bilateral summit, and Pyongyang has reportedly discussed the possibility of a leaders’ meeting with Japan.
The government of Kim Jong-un has informed leaders of North Korea’s ruling Korean Workers’ Party of the possibility of a summit with Japan, the Asahi newspaper said, citing an unidentified North Korean source and briefing papers.
“The Japanese government has expressed a wish to host a leaders meeting, via the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan,” or Chongryon, Pyongyang’s de facto embassy in Japan, the Asahi quoted the briefing papers as saying.
The Japanese government said it had been in touch with the North but declined to offer specific comment on the report.
“We have been communicating with North Korea through various occasions and means such as a route via our embassy in Beijing, but I would like to refrain from going into specifics,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
