Abe Declared Last Year He Would Hold an 'Unconditional Summit'... But North Korea Remained Unresponsive

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It has been reported that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed last year his willingness to hold a "summit without preconditions" with North Korea. However, North Korea reportedly did not show any particular response to this.

On the 17th, Kyodo News, citing multiple sources, reported that in May last year, Prime Minister Abe conveyed to North Korea his intention to hold a "summit without preconditions" with North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un and mentioned the possibility of creating a new North Korea-Japan summit declaration based on the North Korea-Japan Pyongyang Declaration (2002).

Unlike when the 2002 North Korea-Japan Pyongyang Declaration was signed, Abe reportedly pointed out that the leaders on both sides have changed and conveyed to North Korea the need to revise the signatories of the declaration, saying, "Instead of basing it forever on the declaration signed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chairman Kim Jong-il, let's make it suitable for the new era."

Kyodo News reported that North Korea did not show any particular response to this.

Chairman Kim Jong-un has recently held summits with countries related to the Korean Peninsula issue such as South Korea, the United States, and China, but has not held a summit with Japan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.