Japan's Kishida ‘Ready’ to Meet With N. Korea's Kim Without Preconditions

The newly-chosen prime minister of Japan also pledged during his first press conference to put his "utmost effort" into creating a world that will be free of nuclear weapons.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has stated that he is ready to meet with North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un without preconditions. His remarks come as Pyongyang has intensified fire-testing of its newly-developed missiles over the last month.

Kishida additionally noted that Tokyo will strengthen its defence capability and continue to see the US-Japanese alliance as the cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy.

Last week, senior defence officials from the US, Japan, and South Korea held a call during which they discussed regional security and the threats posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

The discussion took place following reports suggesting that North Korea test-fired its newly-developed hypersonic and anti-air missiles. Overall, there have been at least six launches by Pyongyang since early 2021.

Aside from concerns over Pyongyang's missile programmes, Japan also believes North Korea may pose a cybersecurity threat. On 28 September, Tokyo adopted the country's three-year cybersecurity strategy roadmap that lists North Korea as one of the emerging cyberthreat nations with beefed up capabilities, along with China and Russia.

The First Japan-North Korea Summit Meeting

© Photo : Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

Notably, the leaders of North Korea and Japan met twice in person. In 2002, Japan's PM Koizumi Junichiro paid a visit to Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-Il to discuss the issue of the abduction of Japanese citizens. In 2004, Junichiro Koizumi paid another visit to the DPRK to meet with his North Korean counterpart. Back in 2019, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced a readiness to meet with Kim Jong-un without conditions to end the long-running mistrust between the nations. This meeting, however, never materialised.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2nd R) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il (L) after their summit meeting at the Taedonggang state guesthouse in Pyongyang, 22 May 2004

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