Japan’s Suga makes fresh pitch for meeting with Kim

Bloomberg

Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga declared his willingness to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un without preconditions, affirming the policy of his predecessor in his debut speech to the UN.
Japan would seek to normalise ties with North Korea by resolving nuclear weapons and missile issues, as well as the past abductions of Japanese citizens, Suga told the General Assembly, in remarks that local media said had been recorded almost a week earlier.
“Establishing a constructive relationship between Japan and North Korea will not only serve the interests of both sides, but will also greatly contribute to regional peace and stability,” Suga said. Suga also vowed that Tokyo would host the Summer Olympics next year as proof that humankind had defeated the virus pandemic.
While the speech was Suga’s first opportunity to lay out a vision for Japan’s role in the world after his election as prime minister, his remarks emphasized continuity. Suga — a 71-year-old strawberry farmer’s son — has less diplomatic experience than his globe-trotting former boss Shinzo Abe, who also publicly offered to meet Kim, with little success.
Suga has previously said that Japan’s alliance with the US would remain the cornerstone of the country’s foreign policy, even as President Donald Trump’s administration clashes with China over trade and security.