Japan's Abe Declines To Comment On Reports About Nominating Trump For Nobel Peace Prize

Japan's Abe Declines to Comment on Reports About Nominating Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday declined to give a straight answer to a question about whether he had nominated US President Donald Trump for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for the US leader's contribution to easing tensions surrounding the North Korean crisis

TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2019) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday declined to give a straight answer to a question about whether he had nominated US President Donald Trump for the 2019 Nobel Peace prize for the US leader's contribution to easing tensions surrounding the North Korean crisis.

Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Sunday that Abe had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in the fall after getting an "informal" request from Washington via unofficial channels. The report came just days after Trump claimed at a White House press conference on Friday that Abe had allegedly put his name up for consideration for the prestigious award.�

"The Nobel Prize Committee has not disclosed the Names of nominees and nominators for 50 years now. I would like to refrain from commenting on this issue," Abe said, speaking at the meeting of the Japanese parliament's lower house.

At the same time, Abe refused to deny that he had nominated Trump for the award.

"I did not say it was not a fact," Abe said, asked whether Trump's nomination was a fact.

Back in May, Trump stated that "everyone" believed he should get the Nobel Peace Prize for his accomplishments on resolving the North Korean crisis, adding that it had never been his goal and that the only reward he really wanted was "victory for the world." A month before that, South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested Trump should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for the crisis settlement.

The first ever US-North Korean summit last year resulted in an agreement stipulating that North Korea would make efforts to promote complete denuclearization in exchange for the United States and South Korea freezing their military drills as well as the potential removal of US sanctions. A second summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea is set to take place in the Vietnamese capital on February 27-28.