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Abe vows Kim meeting to ‘break shell of mutual distrust’
TOKYO, Jan 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Japan’s prime minister vowed Monday to
“break the shell of mutual distrust” with North Korea by meeting leader Kim
Jong Un face-to-face and restoring diplomatic relations between the two
historic foes.
In a major policy speech to mark the opening of parliament, Shinzo Abe also
vowed to push Sino-Japan ties “to a new stage” and pledged a record budget to
improve crumbling infrastructure in the world’s third-biggest economy.
“I will act resolutely, never failing to seize every opportunity to break
the shell of mutual distrust, and I myself will directly face Chairman Kim
Jong Un next to resolve North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues, as well as
the abductions issue,” Abe said.
Abe gave no timeframe for a potential meeting with the North Korean leader
but the comments came as Kim has ordered preparation for a second summit with
US President Donald Trump, likely towards the end of next month.
“I will aim at diplomatic normalisation by settling the unfortunate past,”
Abe said, using a Japanese diplomatic euphemism referring to harm caused by
Japan during its brutal colonisation of the Korean peninsula before and
during World War II.
The conciliatory message contrasted sharply from a year ago, when Abe used
the same parliamentary address to set out a hardline approach, pledging to
“compel North Korea to change its policies” and describing Pyongyang’s
nuclear and missile programmes as an “unprecedentedly grave and urgent
threat.”
Abe has long campaigned to resolve an emotional row related to North Korean
agents’ abduction of Japanese nationals during the Cold War era to train
Pyongyang’s spies.
– ‘Stable peace and prosperity’ –
On China, Abe said ties had “completely returned to a normal path” after he
visited President Xi Jinping in Beijing last year. Xi is expected to make his
first official visit to Japan in 2019.
“I will strongly pursue diplomacy with neighbours for a new era… in order
to make northeast Asia truly a land of stable peace and prosperity,” he said.
Bilateral ties were harmed in 2012 when Tokyo “nationalised” disputed
islands in the East China Sea also claimed by Beijing. Until recently,
neither nation had made much effort to improve relations.
But Japan’s business community has long urged Abe to improve ties with
China, Tokyo’s largest trade partner as well as the biggest source of foreign
tourists, who are collectively becoming a key driver of Japan’s chronically
fragile economy.
Japan believes a successful Xi visit is key to a successful G20, which
Japan hosts this year and Tokyo hopes the Chinese leader will attend the 2020
Olympic Games.
Abe was cautious about Russia, amid a territorial row over tiny islands to
Japan’s north that has proved difficult to resolve despite frequent meetings
with President Vladimir Putin.
Domestically, Abe vowed to press ahead with an upcoming consumption tax
hike from the current eight percent to 10 percent from October.
He also pledged a whopping seven trillion yen ($64 billion) on
infrastructure spending, as the nation’s many roads and bridges become
dilapidated and Japan routinely faces serious natural disasters such as
flooding and earthquakes.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1148 hrs