Why Japan’s bid for talks on North Korean abductions will be ‘political suicide’ for Kishida

PM Fumio Kishida hopes to address North Korea’s recent missile launches and resolve the issue of Japanese nationals seized by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s

But Kim Jong-un will ‘simply refuse’ to engage, after his late father’s 2002 admission to the abductions proved a ‘disastrous miscalculation’, analysts say

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a rally staged by the relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s and their supporters in Tokyo, calling for the Japanese nationals to be brought home. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 5:00pm, 28 Nov 2023

The prospects of a meeting between the leaders of Japan and North Korea appear to be “slim” and even “political suicide” for Tokyo because of Pyongyang’s refusal to address an abduction issue as well as its recent missile launches, according to analysts.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last weekend said he would “step up efforts to realise an early summit meeting” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and resolve the decades-long issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang.

Kishida made the remarks at a citizens’ gathering in Tokyo, calling for Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s to be brought home.

“We are making approaches through various channels,” Kishida said. “It is extremely important that I myself take the initiative in building a relationship between the leaders.”

Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, and their supporters, at a November 26 rally in Tokyo, where Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was among the 800 attendees. Photo: Kyodo

But Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an international-relations assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, said the chances of a Kishida-Kim summit were low as Pyongyang “will simply refuse to talk about the abduction issue”.