Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his readiness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean intelligence. "It is very important that the leaders of the two countries see the big picture and openly express their positions [on this issue] to each other." , Ishiba said at a meeting with the families of the abducted. His words are quoted by the Kyodo agency. Earlier, when delivering his first keynote speech to parliament, Ishiba, unlike his predecessors, did not mention his readiness to meet with Kim Jong-un.
For the first time, Shinzo Abe expressed his determination to meet with the leader of the DPRK without preconditions in 2018, after which this position became consistent for the Japanese government. At that time, the possibility of a visit by the Japanese Prime Minister to the DPRK was even discussed, but it never took place. The topic of the abduction of Japanese by the DPRK intelligence services is one of the most painful in relations between the two states, which do not maintain official diplomatic ties. In 2002, Pyongyang for the first time admitted the abduction of 13 Japanese citizens and allowed 5 of them to return to their homeland.
The rest were declared dead, and their remains were sent to their relatives, the authenticity of which could not be confirmed. In May 2014, the governments of Japan and North Korea agreed to conduct a new investigation into the abductions of Japanese citizens, but the commission involved in this was subsequently dissolved at the initiative of Pyongyang.
