Japan's Abe Open to Talks With Kim Jong Un Without Preconditions

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is willing to meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un for a “candid discussion” without any preconditions, the Japanese premier told the Sankei newspaper.

“I am hopeful that he's a leader who knows what's best for his country, and is willing to be flexible and make strategic judgments,” Abe was quoted as saying in an interview Wednesday.

The offer for unconditional talks with the one of the U.S.'s closest allies could open another avenue of negotiation for Kim, after his summit with President Donald Trump broke down in February. Last month, the North Korean leader met with Vladimir Putin and asked for his help in resolving the impasse, asking the Russian leader to convey his views to Trump.

For Abe, a meeting with Kim would help bring Japan back into the conversation as it seeks guarantees of its own safety from North Korea's weapons program. Any discussions should be based on a 2002 framework adopted by then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, Abe told the Sankei.

A key friction point between has been Japan's demands for the return of a dozen of its citizens believed kidnapped and taken to North Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with North Korea denying that any are still alive. Abe said that he raised the topic with Trump their during a 50-minute car ride to play golf in the U.S. last week and that he hoped the president would meet abductees' families when he visits Japan later this month.

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Kim may be more open to a meeting with Abe now. Although Putin extended an invitation to Kim almost a year ago, the North Korean leader only accepted it after his second summit with Trump ended without any agreement to relieve United Nations sanctions that are choking his economy.

Since then, North Korea has complained that intermediaries to Trump -- ranging from U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to the South Korean government -- aren't getting his message across.

Meanwhile, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday that the government in Seoul was considering dispatching a special envoy to North Korea. North Korea needed a “comprehensive approach” to nuclear talks, Kang told a televised news briefing.

--With assistance from Kyung Bok Cho and Youkyung Lee.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chikako Mogi in Tokyo at cmogi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Reed Stevenson

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