Abe wants Kim summit, gives South cold shoulder

TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday he wants to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un even though he keeps testing missiles. At the same time, Mr Abe gave a cold shoulder to South Korea amid tensions over wartime history.

In a policy speech opening the parliamentary session, Mr Abe said he will take any chance to meet Mr Kim. “I’m determined to face Chairman Kim Jong-un, without attaching any preconditions,” Mr Abe said, after changing his policy earlier this year. “Based on a level-headed analysis, I will act decisively so that I won’t miss any chance.”

Mr Abe used to say he would meet Mr Kim only when there is progress on denuclearisation and the decades-old issue of Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. But he changed his tune after other regional leaders, including those in China, South Korea and Russia, choose to meet Mr Kim.

North Korea has resumed missile tests following the February collapse of its summit with the United States. The latest was a test-firing on Wednesday of an underwater-launched missile, parts of which fell inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The US talks resume today in Stockholm.

“Regarding the current North Korea situation, we will do the utmost to protect the safety of the people as we will closely cooperate with the US and the international community,” Mr Abe said. While maintaining its alliance with the US as a “cornerstone” of diplomacy and security, Japan will also “join hands with countries that it shares fundamental values, such as Britain, France, Australia and India, to achieve free and open Indo-Pacific,” Mr Abe said.

Unlike in the past, Mr Abe did not mention South Korea in the context of cooperation on North Korean missile and nuclear threats.

He only repeated that South Korea must withdraw demands for Japanese wartime compensation beyond what was already paid under the peace treaty. “I urge [South Korea] to keep promises between countries under the international law,” he said.