Abe wishes talks with NK during phone meeting with Moon

Published : Mar 16, 2018 - 19:08 Updated : Mar 16, 2018 - 21:47

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his hope for talks between his country and North Korea during his phone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to Seoul officials.

In their 45-minute conversation on Friday, the two leaders agreed that relations between Japan and North Korea should improve to help resolve North Korea issues.

"Peace on the Korean Peninsula is not possible only with a South-North summit," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom quoted Moon as telling Abe.

Moon said inter-Korean ties can move forward when North Korea improves relations with Japan as well as the United States.

Analysts said Abe's wish for talks with North Korea shows Japan's concerns that his country may be left behind allies' brisk diplomacy to engage the North.

Moon is scheduled to meet with the North's leader Kim Jong-un in late April, and US President Donald Trump also plans to sit down with Kim by May.

Moon and Abe agreed to work together to resolve pending issues between the North and Japan, including the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Seoul officials.

President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Yonhap)

The conversation Friday took place days after Moons’ envoy, National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon, who had met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, visited Tokyo to discuss the inter-Korean talks.

During his meeting with the South Korean delegation earlier this month, Kim said he was willing to denuclearize as long as the security of the North Korean regime was guaranteed.

US President Donald Trump last week accepted Kim’s proposal for a summit to be held by May. Both Koreas also agreed to hold what would be their third summit in April.

Abe has been emphasizing the need for North Korea to take “concrete” actions for denuclearization as the US prepares to hold an unprecedented summit with the North.

Tokyo has long insisted that the “opening of formal talks” with North Korea must be strictly conditional on Pyongyang taking clear steps toward the “complete, verifiable and irreversible” abandonment of its nuclear program.

By Claire Lee and news reports (dyc@heraldcorp.com)