Japan PM Yoshihide Suga willing to meet Kim Jong-un without conditions, he says in UN speech

Japan’s new prime minister, stepping from the shadows of his long-time supporting role, said on Saturday in his debut at the United Nations General Assembly that he is willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un without any conditions.

The offer comes as Yoshihide Suga – only days into his tenure – tries to do what his predecessor and former boss, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, could not: resolve the decades-old issue of North Korea’s abductions of Japanese citizens, along with the North’s growing nuclear and missile programme.

“Establishing constructive relations between Japan and North Korea will not only serve the interests of both sides but will also greatly contribute to regional peace and stability,” Suga said in a recorded speech that came on Friday afternoon at the coronavirus-hit annual gathering of world leaders at the UN in New York.

In a nod, perhaps, to criticism that he is something of a lightweight on foreign policy issues, Suga noted that he has worked for many years on the abduction issue, which remains a big domestic concern in Japan. Abe had also offered to meet Kim during his own tenure.