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Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, November 6, 2017.
The government of Kim Jong Un has informed leaders of North Korea’s ruling Korean Workers Party of the possibility of summits with Japan, Russia and other countries, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified North Korean source and briefing papers.
“The Japanese government has expressed a wish to host a leaders meeting, via the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan,” or Chongryong, Pyongyang’s de facto embassy in Japan, the Asahi quoted the briefing papers as saying.
A Japanese government source told Reuters in mid-March that Japan was considering seeking a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Kim to discuss Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents decades ago.
The Asahi said in an article from Seoul Kim’s government had discussed the possibility of summits with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, in that order. Kim met President Xi Jinping in China this week, his first trip abroad as North Korean leader. Summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump are being planned for April and May, respectively.
The North Korean briefing papers cite the possibility of a Japan summit in early June, the Asahi said.
