Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Thursday (28/3), reiterated his determination to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to realize the return of Japanese citizens believed to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 80s.
“I remain determined to make this happen for Japan,” he told reporters. However, Kishida directly refused to respond to North Korea's recent comments that such a meeting would only be possible if Japan stopped pressing the kidnapping issue.
Speaking at a press conference, Kishida stressed that he was directly involved in high-level negotiations to improve bilateral issues, amid growing concerns about neighboring North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
In 2002, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un's late father, told then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that his agents kidnapped 13 Japanese people in the 1970s and 80s, and allowed five of them to return to Japan.
Japan estimates hundreds of other people may have been kidnapped during the period and some of them are still alive. Koizumi's second visit to North Korea in 2004 was the last summit meeting between the two countries. (ps/ka)