Japanese Cabinet Secretary Confirms Pompeo To Meet With Abe Ahead Of Visit To North Korea

Japanese Cabinet Secretary Confirms Pompeo to Meet With Abe Ahead of Visit to North Korea

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono ahead of his trip to North Korea, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday.

TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2018) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono ahead of his trip to North Korea, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the US State Department announced that Pompeo would have a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Sunday as part of his trip to Asia, adding that the US official was also scheduled to hold talks with Abe and Kono before the visit to North Korea and meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, as well as his South Korean and Chinese counterparts on October 7 and 8.

"Secretary of State Pompeo will visit Japan on October 6-7, he is planning to pay a visit to Prime Minister Abe and hold talks with Minister Kono," Suga told a briefing.

The official noted that Japan hoped for "the full and prompt implementation of the US-North Korean leaders' agreements, including North Korea's commitments to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

"We would like to take advantage of [Pompeo's] visit to Japan to work closer together on the North Korean issue. The United States knows well our position on North Korea, including on the abduction issue," Suga added.

In June, US President Donald Trump and Kim held a summit in Singapore, during which the North Korean leader expressed his country's commitment to abandon its nuclear weapons program, while the United States pledged to provide security guarantees and freeze joint military exercises with South Korea. The White House said that discussions are underway for a second summit between Trump and Kim, but provided no further details on when or where the meeting could happen.

According to Tokyo, 17 Japanese nationals were abducted by North Korean security in the 1970s and 1980s, and about 900 more disappeared under circumstances that could potentially involve North Korea's actions. Pyongyang recognized 13 instances of kidnapping Japanese citizens, five of whom were returned to Japan and the remaining eight died. It is believed that some of these Japanese citizens were abducted for the purpose of obtaining their identities, which were then used by North Korean penetration agents in South Korea. Other victims allegedly taught the Japanese language to North Korean intelligence personnel.